ForkAndPen

Why didn't I think of that

What He Ate: A Food Diary From New York

Slow food guide

I think it is time everyone living in New York City should go out and by The Slow Food Guide to New York City. For the Pizza, Japanese, and Market sections alone.

#1 good good

I am not cool enough to have know about #1 Chinese, the new hip chinese place conceived by Frank Prisinzano (of Frank's and Supper), before it opened, but with the help of Below 14th I was able to get there on day three.

First, Frank knows how to make a place that will bring people. It is on 4th and B which while sharing the area with a bunch of restaurants doesn't really have anything like this close by. And the building is pretty amazing. Two story cavern of sorts - open kitchen - candle light - two bars. The east village hip are going to flock here.

Here is a quick rap up of our meal:

Crispy noodles - all the american chinese places have these and so this place does- pretty good ones - three sauces to dip them in. A soy sauce based one, a mustard, and a way-too-sweet sauce

shrimp ball appetizer: I liked these a lot - better then the shrimp balls at Sea on 2nd Ave - smokey chicken mixed with fresh shrimp.

five spice chicken wings - not bad - didn't find all 5 though

BBQ short ribs - kinda dissapointing - tasted like mom's brisket but not as good.

Stuffed Eggplant w/ crab meet - complaments of the house - not much to say about them more then they were ok especially because they were free

Salty fish and chicken fried rice - good dish - cheap and filling - with a great chicken flavor - didn't really get the salty fish taste.

Tangerine pork - so this was great but WAY spicy - and it wasn't listen on the menu as being spicy which is fine for me but what a surprise. I mean really there were so many hot green and red pepers in this. But the Tangerine still came out strong and the mix between the salty, sweet, and hot created a fine dish.

Sesame Chicken - where have you been?? So I know 14 bucks for sesame chicken is a bit crazy (especially becuase you are not at a place like Spice Market or 66) but it was much better then your average sesame chicken. Fresh chicken with a dark sesame flavor - addictive really.

No desserts yet but its still day three. The servers are getting use to working - one guy just kinda hung out with his friends while the other servers worked but in general they were freindly and fast.

So get to #1 Chinese before its too hip for actual customers.

Koi Reborn

Last week I found myself one year older and enjoying a sushi lunch at Koi, the new sushi place at 175 2nd ave that took over when Iso closed down. Going to a place that just opened (6 days earlier) is usualy frowned upon because the kitchen and staff haven't gotten all the kinks out yet. But really it can be a lot of fun. It was about 12:30 on a sunday and i was the only person in Koi. I met most of the waitstaff - a hodge podge of women and men. They were talking about old jobs and crazy schedules. One waitress said "I think I will come here for lunch soon - yup I will." It was a pretty up beat feel for a sunday lunch.

I started the meal with a glass of the special "grand opening" sake. It was ice cold, which i love, and very subtle. And at $5.00 a glass pretty cheap too. Then came the highlight of the meal (it just started!) - Chopped Raw Horse mackerel (Aji Tataki). I saw the sushi chef take out a whole fish from among the many already cut fish. He then cut the middle of the fish out saving the head, skin, and tail. The appetizer was served chopped, placed on a lemon with sesame seeds and green onions scattered through out. The fish that gave up its life for my lunch was artisticly displayed behind. The chef had given me a small lesson on how to prepare aji.

The texture, taste, and appearance melded together to make such a satisfying opening to this meal i would give up 20 mediocre sushi rolls for it in a second.

Luckly i didn't have to. Next came the sashimi lunch special. Fluke with mosago, yellow tail, salmon, and tuna. The fluke and the tuna stood out. Tuna is so simple and yet probably my favorite - and this was very fresh.

To finish off the meal I had a Blue Fin Toro sushi piece (hey why not it was my birthday). Like nothing I have ever had, though the fattiness was a bit too much to end the meal with.

The sushi chef use to work at Iso and recently bought it and re-opened the restaurant as Koi. He was a real nice guy and you should say hi to him when you go there.

Per Se and Masa

California East (latimes.com)

NY Mag Best of 2004

Isn't it only march :-)

Best of New York Food 2004

Beware of Caesar's Mushroom

Happy Ides everyone!

Cheap eats in Tokyo

I know i am obsessed with Japanese food but here is another Tokyo food link:

Eating cheap in Tokyo

Comparing Sushi

I have thought about this a good amount. Sushi might be one of the most suprising food style I have ever had. Tastingmenu.com got me thinking with this post and then this post about how the difficulty of judging your local sushi place to others you have been to.

For me I did not eat sushi at all till sometime at the end of high school. It really is a bit hazy but at somepoint between 18 and 20 I had already fallen in love with those small pieces of raw fish. I seem to be a traditionalist when it comes to sushi. I like the interesting rolls for creativity sake but give me artfully done sashimi that is fresh and I am yours.

I have never been to Nobu or Bond St in New York. And really I have eaten very little sushi out of the east coast area. But still a few places have really shinned. They might be because they are local or they might actually be doing something special. I will mention two here.

Both I have found recently. In Edgewater NJ, there is a large Japanese mall called Mitsuwa. They have a bookstore, toy shop, and a huge supermarket. In the supermarket they have a good size food court.

First I tried onigiri for the first time. Triangle shaped rice with spicy salmon roe inside. The rice is wrapped in plastic with a sheet of nori (seaweed) seperate. The nori is used to wrap the rice and then you eat. A burst of spicy sweet flavor came through. I have had salmon roe before but this tasted of so many different things. Ocean falvor mixed with a balanced hotness. Excellent. Then a sushi bar in the corner of the supermarket gave a friend and I a great lesson in good sushi. It just tasted fresh, vibrant. The rice was on the cold side without being too cold. I personaly preffer that. This is also the first time I have ever had toro (tuna belly). I feel it was a good time to start.

The second sushi place that makes me jump with delight is Tab Toe sushi. A tiny (4 or 5 tables) sushi place on Ave C and 5th street. My guess is that it is family owned. It is BYOB. And the chef puts out both creative and astoningly tasty dishes. I have not gone all the way there yet. There are a few rolls that sound very excitting. A dab of this sauce or some green tea powder but it was the Tuna Tataki salad (given free with a sushi box of peppered salmon) that realed me in. A light ginger soy dressing over seared tuna. A black pepper taste lingers in your mouth after every bite. Here is a recipe for Tuna Tataki.

So it seems to me that comparing varying sushi places is just like comparing any kinda restaurant. Find out what you like and then order something new.

got to love those Japanese

Japan's Beard Papa's Pipin' Hot Cream Puffs come to New York -- Beard Papa's Sweet Cafe opens this Friday. (via Nyc Eats)

Are you going to eat that?

A friend wrote a comment on this site asking about "cow semen soup". I tried to find a culture that ate cow semen soup but I couldn't find one (does not mean there isn't one).

I did come across a list of some of the unusal meals served around the world. I have always said that in America we are very jaded when it comes to how "acceptable animals to eat" is defined. Rats in some villages is the only meat to be found. Or in a vegetarian village we must look like crazed individuals when we have a chicken sandwitch. Of course its all prespective.

All that said - a few things on this list are a bit much - read at your own risk.

Odd food from around the world

Gujarati Mango Soup

Doesn't this just sound like it would taste great.

Mei Lai Wah

To round out "Eat by the courthouse week", I had breakfast in chinatown on friday at Mei Lai Wah coffee tea house. It was bussling with business. Steamed Buns were everywhere. I had a pork bun - large sweet bun with stewed pork inside. Then I had just a sweet bun by itself. With a cup of coffee it came to $1.50 and it was a lot better then almost any bagel and coffee I have ever had.

Other things on the menu that looked interesting was a sunny side up egg upside down(sunny side down egg) with soy sauce topping it and lop cheung (chinese sausage) and eggs. Plus a whole bunch of dumplings.

Never take chinatown for granted.