Category: New York

Aburiya Kinnosuke

My friend Mike always talked about this wonderful Japanese place whenever he visited New York. I had a picture of a very traditional Japanese restaurant with rice paper walls, and still have the memory of Mike’s wonderful tale where him and another mate accidentally tore through one, or was it two of those walls. Hehe. Anyway, when we were catching up with some other relatives who were in town just to visit us, I thought we should try it out. We booked in advance (telephone only) and for a 1:30pm booking, we turned up just before 1pm and were seated immediately.

I’m sure their lunch menu is different from their dinner menu, but even the lunch menu was an overwhelming choice of a large number of things. I went for the recommend aburiya lunch selection showcasing so many things off the menu including the BBQ washu beef, and the miso cod fish. It also comes with miso soup, salad and a small bite-sized dessert.

Love the chopsticks obviously made from bamboo in this picture. A small but delightful detail.

The massive set of sashmi, rice, soup. Note that the wasabi here was real wasabi (so rare!). You can tell because you can see the wasabi root fibers as it’s been grated up, instead of a papery reconstituted green mound most restaurants serve. It also has less of a uppercut to the nose on contact because it’s pure wasabi, instead of the fusion of horseradish and wasabi powder normally used.

The wushu beef was sitting atop a griddle alight with a small flame to keep it hot. All the elements were really fresh, and have to say I was really impressed by the cod – perfectly done with a light miso sauce, grilled to perfection. So tasty.

Upon the recommendation of the waitress, we upgraded our dessert to a larger size because apparently the one that came with the set was only a biteful. Green tea tiramisu.

Service was amazing. Ok, so it’s proper Japanese. Still our waitress was very attentive, spent a lot of time with us (in contrast to other Manhattan joints that are ready to run away to serve the next patron) and we even got a few small bonus dishes (like edamame). It’s definitely one me over and thanks to Mike for the recommendation.

Name: Aburiya Kinnosuke
Found at: 213 East 45th St New York, New York
Website: http://www.aburiyakinnosuke.com/

Clinton Street Baking Company

With all of our big meals in New York, I only ever really ate twice a day. Rather than doing a lunch, we decided to go early to get a table at the Clinton Street Baking Company where I met a couple of friends for a weekend brunch last year. We didn’t have to worry about coming before they opened because it wasn’t the weekend this time, although we still hit it shortly after they opened and we didn’t have to wait. Good thing too because a line did shortly form about 5 minutes after we arrived.

I remember the huge cups they serve their coffee in. And the local sourcing they do. Good stuff!

And rather than go for something with their famous buttermilk biscuits (they were really good!), I decided to go for their pancakes for which they are also very well known for. They come in three varieties (chocolate chunk, blueberry and banana walnut) but I went for the latter after a recommendation by our waitress. The huge stack of fluffy, American style pancakes came with accompanying maple butter (I didn’t really want to know how much went into them).

The pancakes were great. Super light, and went well with the side of bacon that we got (crispy american style). My only worry was really how big they were and I didn’t even try to finish it this time.

Name: Clinton Street Baking Company
Found at: 4 Clinton Street (btw. East Houston & Stanton), New York, NY 10002
Website: http://www.clintonstreetbaking.com/

Daisy May’s New York

There was a lot of press about the joint venture of Jamie Oliver and the “BBQ King of NY”, Adam Perry Lang when they first opened up Barbecoa. Unfortunately most of that press hasn’t been good and I hadn’t really expected to given that it’s a formula that caters for the banking crowd. I figured that we should go straight to the original source, to Lang’s original Daisy May’s BBQ on 11th Ave.

This particular place could not be further than from the modern monstrosity that is Barbecoa. Wooden panels line the walls, communal dining areas, and more of a canteen style serving area where you order first and then take a seat takes priority over atmosphere. Having said that, it seems appropriate when you’re talking about this sort of cuisine and fits in aptly with it all.

The most logical choice when arriving is to get one of the plate combos – something from the BBQ and two sides. I opt for the sweet and sticky pork ribs with coleslaw and baked beans with burnt ends.

To drink, a sarsaparilla made by Wild Bills.

Some signage showing you how it works.

And a beautifully large and patriotic sign.

Hilarious tip jar.

Most importantly the ribs were really good. Smoked as you could taste it, and the meat easily falling off the bone. I’m surprised that the portion size was quite big, but not big by classical American standards. I think the sticky sauce was great as well. I think without it, the ribs would have been much drier and definitely needed something saucy on it. It was a really cheap meal and some great sides that we couldn’t finish either. Be warned though, this is not really the place to bring vegetarian friends.

Name: Daisy May’s BBQ
Found at: 623 11th Ave, New York, New York
Website: http://www.daisymaysbbq.com/

Sushi Samba

Craving some sushi rolls (the more westernised ones than the traditional ones), I decided that whilst in New York, we should head back to Sushi Samba, where latin america meets the east. I have to say that this visit wasn’t as great as the first time, but we some some nice things to eat.

My favourite dish of the night was the umami rich miso eggplant. Hearty chunks skewered and delicately roasted before being finished off with some miso sauce.

The rock shrimp tempura had a great kick, though failed to be as crisp as good tempura should be. Love rock shrimp though.

The corn fritter tempura definitely made up for that lack of crispiness and went well with the wasabi mayo they served it with. Could do with more kick.

Here’s the sushi bar.

And our yummy Samba 7 roll with lobster chunks.

And another roll that we had (can’t remember the name of this one)

I see on their website that they’ll be opening a London branch soon, so that will be interesting to watch the bloggersphere for how it’s taken. There’s a lot of brazilians in London so I hope they live up to the real thing.

Name: Sushi Samba 7
Found at: 87 7th Ave South, New York, New York.
Website: http://sushisamba.com/

Eleven Madison Park Round 2

Out of all the places that I ate at last year, I was most impressed by the experience of the then, two-starred michelin restaurant. Obviously others had been as well since it’s gained an additional star in the meantime. The lunch menu is definitely a great value if you manage to get a reservation, and we were lucky that we were able to (thanks Grace!)

It was an extremely cold day when we went for lunch, made even colder by the wind chill factor. I’ll say that revolving doors make a great way of making sure that gusts of cold air don’t make their way into the dining room. Stepping through these doors, you’re welcomed almost immediately by a member of staff, coats taken and then quickly escorted to the bright, airy dining room (below). Weirdly enough, we were seated at exactly the same table we were last time!

The menu format still hasn’t changed. A four course menu depicts a journey that you get to pick the main attraction, but all scenery provided by the kitchen. This allows the restaurant to change the elements of the menu with seasonal produce and also produce some vastly different experiences (all good, rest assured).

Whilst deciding, we get to pick on some cheesy Gougère, strong in flavour, light in composition.

Followed almost immediately by the wonderfully velvety chicken veloute and parsely oil served from a teapot into a tea cup for easy drinking. It’s a great way to warm up after walking around outside.

Different from the amuse bouches of our last visit, we then received a foie gras paste perched perfectly atop brioche with chives. Yummo.

And like last time, had a wonderfully rich american sturgeon custard served in perfectly cut egg shells. The custard was more like a foam (maybe I’m getting it wrong) with the sturgeon eggs providing a wonderful contrast in flavour and texture as your spoon dips in. A little bit more flavoured oil (not sure what) sits in the bottom adding another dimension to the dish.

Fortunately there was no pork fat served with the bread, with the lighter butter made from goat’s cheese and the creamy yellow a French style. This time the bread was more like buttery croissant pastry turned into small parcels and hand delivered warm and fresh in a little pouch.

My first dish, was a crab roulade with avacado, apple and lime. Soft creamy elements and carefully adorned with fresh herbs and green leafs along its length. I really enjoyed the beautiful presentation and the flavours of this dish.

Following a seafood theme, the lobster poached with autumn mushrooms and spinach arrived looking like a work of art, carefully arranged in a single line unevenly offset on the right side of a huge plate. The pieces were generous and that mushroom/lobster foam was so rich and velvety but was carefully not overpowering the sweetness of the lobster flesh.

My final course before the desert was the guinea fowl roasted with pear, salsify and foie gras. This dish was a superb ascent to the top with rich, deep flavours that built on the previous ones. I suspect the guinea fowl had been cooked sous vie before being finished off under a broiler – there’s no other way I could imagine it retaining so much of that succulent juices.

After the previous course, a small cart got wheeled up. We had anticipated this after watching a number of other tables being served the same, wondering what it was. It’s a beautiful show. Decanters of lime juice, and cocoa milk tipped into a small glass before orange oil being dabbed in from yet another bottle. The finishing touch was a spray of seltzer water fizzing up the entire drink. I was reminded of drinking a light, liquid version of a Terry’s orange only much cleaner on the palette and an experience to remember. Now where do I find cocoa milk!

We then had another pre-dessert cleanser, made up of a custard and some fresh berry sorbet. I can’t remember the other elements as I was still thinking about the wonderful glass that preceded it.

For my main dessert, I’d ordered the hazelnut meringue with sorbet, chestnuts and pistachio. I was surprised at how fruity this dish was, considering hazelnut is classically paired with chocolate but it worked out surprisingly well.

Last year, I missed not having a coffee, so thought we would try the entertaining tableside coffee.

The petite fours arrived as well just as the coffee was being prepared. A beautiful white truffle chocolate bonbon with a creamy explosive centre full of truffle-essence.

Followed by a cocoa black truffle ganache providing a complement to the white.

Ok, I’ll admit I still prefer espresso to siphon coffee but I like the spectacle of the way they prepare it here. This is a picture of the tableside siphon coffee being prepared. First they allow you to smell the coffee, explaining its origin and then all the details about the temperature and time that are needed for the perfect brew.

And voila, the final product.

Another wonderful dining experience at Eleven Madison Park, and very deserving of their three stars.

Name: Eleven Madison Park
Found at: 11 Madison Avenue New York, NY
Website: http://www.elevenmadisonpark.com/

The Little Owl

On one of my previous Foods of New York tour, they brought us to The Little Owl, a small non-de-script tenement building made famous by the Friends TV show, and also just highly recommended as a great place to eat.

As you can see from the picture below, there were heaps of people being shown the same famous building, though it didn’t really detract from our overall dining experience.

We were really lucky, turning up shortly after midday, and only being told a table wait would be about a half hour. I was a bit worried since it was a really popular restaurant with only 28 people and reservations generally recommended. They did mention they reserve some tables for walk-ins, and we were lucky enough to nab one. We walked around the area for a bit, before returning for a short five minute wait before being seated.

There’s not a lot of room for movement, and with my back turned to the rest of the restaurant found my chair constantly niggled, either by the patrons leaving and going, or the waitress coming and going as well. It’s your typical, NY tight style seating where people were almost sitting on top of each other.

The menu is pretty interesting, definitely inspired by the Mediterranean but brought up to American standards with items such as the burgers, and their famous gravy meatball slides that I had to order.

My sister order the bacon cheese burger (US$16) that came with a series of condiments.

As you can see, it was a pretty big burger, served with melting american, bright yellow cheese, and then the pickles and salad sitting on the plate.

I ordered two appetisers opting for the crunchy artichoke heart (US$15) and the gravy meatball sliders (US$12). The artichoke was served with a light, lemon black pepper parmesan broth and some tasty green rocket leaves. Superbly crunchy and a delicious combination.

The sliders, or mini-burgers were rightfully famous. Each was moist, juicy and packed full of flavour. The meat combo was a mince of beef, pork and veal and then topped with grated pecorino and then topped with a bit of sauce to keep it really moist.

We also shared a side of mushrooms served with truffled breadcrumbs (US$6), a delicious rich, but probably not needed accompaniment.

To finish off the meal, we split the beignets served with raspberry sauce and nutella (US$9) that were beautifully made super fresh. The raspberry sauce brought a good level of tartness to the dish and the nutella, an additional richness to the dish. I definitely enjoyed the food overall. Everything was very well made and service overall very good – water topped up all the time and we didn’t ever feel rushed to be moved off our table. Highly recommended! Total price with tax, tip (no alcoholic drinks) for two people was US$77.41.

Name: The Little Owl
Found at: 90 Bedford Street, New York, New York
Website: http://www.thelittleowlnyc.com/

Cart Fun Dim Sum at Jing Fong

London doesn’t tend to have so many places that do dim sum Hong Kong style with the carts, so it was nice to visit Jing Fong in New York’s chinatown and experience the real deal. Though we were told it would be about a half hour wait, in reality, it took us only 20 minutes to get a table.

This is the waiting area to which the guy checks numbers and is constantly calling out numbers. They have a constant stream of people going up and down, so it’s quite easy to wonder what the restaurant looks like

More of the waiting area.

As you can see though, the entire dining room was massive – my estimates were that it held at least 600 people and almost all the tables were constantly full. I’m glad they don’t do a lot to cram huge numbers of people at a table – we shared a single table with another couple though there were a few small places for lone diners to also share.

In true fashion, you’re given the dim sum ticket guide where the cart attendants would stamp small, medium, large or special depending on the dish you order.

The classic steamed pork buns were pretty good. I was pleased not to encounter unpleasant globs of fat although the bun was pretty small of itself.

We ordered a prawn rice noodle roll (cheung fun. Two giant prawns in each roll and the serving was extremely generous.

The har gau (prawn dumplings) were also a very generous serve made up of huge prawns. The only complaint was that the dumpling wrapper on these turned out to be a little thick and stuck to the paper rather than peel off a bit more delicately.

We ordered the taro croquette that I can image would have been tastier had it been hotter and to its left (in the picture below) a durian dumpling crossing our fingers it was going to be mooli (it wasn’t!) but also wasn’t as offensive a flavour of durian it could have been.

Tofu wrapped duplings were freshly made and delicious.

And although the portions of the turnip cake were massive I found the mixture too mushy and tasteless for my liking.

Here is a picture of the durian dumpling on the inside. As you can see, it’s like a sweet custard that lifts the strong durian flavour away.

I really enjoyed our experience at Jing Fong. The carts add a lot of drama to the entire experience, as does trying to hunt down your favourite dumpling on the carts, fresh before other people do as well. I was hugely impressed at the sheer size of this place and glad to see it doing well when I hear many of the places in Chinatown really struggling.

Name: Jing Fong
Found at: 20 Elizabeth Street, New York, New York
Website: http://www.jingfongny.com/

Brunching at Norma’s

As I mentioned in a previous post, we were definitely returning to places that I enjoyed and Norma’s is a fantastic place if you’re hungering for an American style brunch or breakfast menu. At lunchtime, it’s worth booking – we were lucky we got a table in about half an hour as some people after us were told they’d be seated after a whole hour!

The menu is divided into plenty of sections but their real strength is in their very large breakfast menu, all of it orderable 24 hours a day. Prices are steep although be warned that the portions are even larger than most American style portions. This time, we went for a real brunch instead of a breakfast, so my sister thought it’d be more appropriate for the lobster mac and cheese (US$28). Though being pricy, the dish was literally chock-full of lobster – each spoonful bringing a healthy chunk. The only bad thing that we experienced was half-way through the dish, finding a bit of foil-like wrapper (we think it may have been the foil-wrapper that typically covers butter). Nothing extreme or what not, but kudos to the waiter – as soon as we told him, they went back to the kitchen to make a new one and took the dish off the menu!

Last time I went for the Irresistible Banana-Macadamia Nut Flap Jacks With Whipped Banana Brown Sugar Butter (US$21) and they were really good that I thought I’d try them again. I’m pleased to say, despite the price tag, they were really just as good as last time, a very good sign about the consistency of the restaurant. It was served with caramelised walnuts and macadamia and the banana brown sugar butter really went well with the huge pancakes, lasting the entire amount. I remind myself I’m on holidays and not worrying too much about the amount of working out I’ll have to do to burn this dish off.

You can’t really have pancakes with a side of bacon, and this one was perfect as well. The streaky, British style bacon, slightly peppered and bring a great saltiness to an overall sweet dish.

The only thing to be warned about is the US$9 orange juice and US$4 coffees that you’re offered as soon as you sit down. Sure the juice was good, but a glass for that much is a bit of a stretch.

Name: Norma’s
Found in: Inside the Le Parker Meridien, 119 W 56th St, New York, New York.
Website: http://www.parkermeridien.com/normas.htm

Bon Chon Round 2

On this trip to New York, I planned a number of return visits to places that I’ve been to before. I guess the true test of anywhere reasonable in NY is one that can survive the rent prices of New York, and the ever changing trends that Manhattan-ites seems to follow all the time. Fortunately it looks like the Korean Fried Chicken trend is here to stay and we returned to the Bonchon Chicken on John.

Unlike our previous visit to Bonchon, this one really resembled a place I’d imagine Korean Fried Chicken should really be eaten – in a bar, as finger food although this was definitely made much more North American with large TV displays showing sport. We sat at the bar where you can order the food as well.

The great thing about the korean fried chicken is the way that they cook it, and the the pieces are lightly coated in a sauce (sweet soy, or chilli in this case) although I have to admit that the spice level was turned way down to the point where I didn’t break into a sweat this time.

Bonchon is still the bomb, and for some pretty tasty fast food, I’d definitely recommend it.

Name: Bonchon on John
Found at:
Website: http://www.bonchononjohn.com/BonchononJohn/Home.asp

Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sichuan

We took our family out for dinner onto the main part of Flushing, arriving at the glamourous sounding Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sichuan after reading about it in the paper. 7:30pm is peak dinner hour and it really showed – even though we had a reservation, we still had to wait for our table to be freed from the previous set of diners. Even then, when we sat down, we found out they ran out of small bowls (in a Chinese restaurant!) just because they had been so busy.

We ordered a lot of food, many of them on recommendation from other reviewers and just those that we wanted to eat, such as the green pea shoots with the typical accompaniment of garlic.

As well as a whole fish roasted with vegetables, an earthy, but very oily dish with lots of subtle flavour. I think it would have been much better with a lot of more kick.

The star of the evening was definitely the cumin lamb, the typically strong lamb flavour disappearing into the soft, melting bits of meat.

We had a number of other dishes that the photos (iPhone quality) didn’t really turn out so good but I would order again such as the aubergine and the vinegared wood-ear mushrooms. I wouldn’t order the Mao pork again – it was just a bit too fatty for me, but overall pretty tasty. Like any Chinese place, turnover is fast and prompt. At least they let us pay by credit card (though wanted the tips in cash).

Name: Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sichuan (Flushing branch)
Found at: 42-47 Main St. Flushing, New York
Website: http://www.thegrandsichuan.com