Street Meat: Biryani Cart

Another 2009 Vendy Award finalist and winner of the People's choice Vendy Award in 2008, Biryani Cart was definitely on my list for street vendors to try. Located on 46th and 6th, it's surrounded by a lot of competition in the immediate area (Jamiacan Dutchy, 53rd and 6th Halal, Kim's Aunt, etc). I went just after lunch and there was basically no line so no trouble getting my food.

My lunch that day was their Kati Rolls. They're made in 4 different styles, each one available with chicken or lamb and wrapped in chapati, an Indian bread that is chewy and and crisp at the same time. I sampled the King Koti Roll - a spicy chicken tikka marinated in yogurt and spices, and the Channai roll - a sweet and tangy roll made with a spicy Thai style chili sauce. You can get any two rolls for $6, which is a pretty good deal. While I must say that they were quite good, I'm not sure if it has won me over to being a repeat visitor. I still think I would choose Halal food over a Kati roll, but I guess that depends on my mood. In any case, you won't be disappointed if you decide to drop by.

Pamplona

A couple of weekends ago, I ate at Pamplona, a Spanish restaurant in the Flatiron district. To start, we had the Pan con Tomate with Jamon (pictured below). The bread was toasted nicely and the richness of the tomato combined with the ham reminded me of how good simple things really can be. As my main course, I had the Cochinillo (pictured above), which was confit of suckling pig with green leaf lettuce, shiitake mushrooms and an apple puree. Pork-anything is definitely my weakness and this pork dish was exceptional. The combination of the sweetness of the apple with the saltiness of the pork (especially the skin!) made the dish satisfying down to the last piece. My only qualm was that there wasn't enough sauce on the plate. My girlfriend had a Mahi-Mahi dish (the last picture below) that was good in its own right (I forget what exactly was in it since it was a special that night) - a good mixture of sour and salty, but I think the pork won that night. Simply put, I would order the pork again, but maybe not the Mahi-Mahi.

Overall, I would say that the experience was satisfying, but the service could have used a bit of improvement as there were times when we had to wait for a noticeable amount of time between courses and when trying to reach the attention of the waiters. With that said, I would still recommend going to Pamplona, but just remember to schedule more time for dinner.

Street Meat: Halal Food at 53rd & 6th

Probably the current most popular New York street food vendors at the moment, Halal food carts can be found all over the city. The most famous of which can be found on the corner of 53rd St and 6th Ave across from the Hilton and is aptly named 53rd and 6th. The cart is open from 7:30 - 4:00 AM each day, but there is an unaffiliated vendor (pictured below) there that is there during the day that is quite good as well. Every night the line for 53rd and 6th can easily stretch to over 20 people. In terms of food choices, I always get lamb over rice - lamb meat with lettuce and tomato over yellow rice generously covered in "white sauce".

Baoguette

Since my class schedule is primarily at night, I usually make it a point to grab some takeout on my way home for dinner. Last night, I was in the Cooper Union area since so I decided to pass by Baoguette Cafe, the sister restaurant to Michael Huynh's Baoguette in Murray Hill (pictured below), for some banh mi action. (For some reason, Baoguette Cafe and Baoguette have different websites, with the latter only listing the Murray location while the former listing both as well as a West Village location. Also, the Baoguette website allows for online orders, while the Cafe website doesn't. Very strange and confusing to say the least.)

I had the standard Baoguette (pictured above) - pork terrine, pate, pulled pork and fresh herbs all in a crisp baguette. As usual, it was extremely satisfying, a great mixture of savory, sweet, spicy and sour. You can't quite beat a mixture of three kinds of pork in a sandwich, especially for $5. I also had an order of Shrimp and Green Papaya Salad (pictured below). The papaya salad was basically the greens they had put in the Baoguette, but it was still light and refreshing as a compliment to my sandwich.

Fish dinner at Aquagrill in Soho

My girlfriend had a craving for some fish the other night, so we decided to try out Aquagrill. I had one of the specials of the night, Halibut with sun dried tomato gnocchi and a roasted garlic emulsion (pictured below). My girlfriend had the Miso-glazed Chilean sea bass with kimchi and wasabi-miso sauce (Pictured above). Both dishes were extremely flavorful but I would have to say that the sea bass was the winner, as the tartness of the kimchi balanced out the dish well.

Street Meat: The Jamaican Dutchy

I truly believe some of the best food you can get is on the street. Good street food should be satisfying (in way that you know is probably not good for you), but most of all it should be cheap.

I heard about The Jamaican Dutchy (corner of 51st and 7th ave) through its Vendy Award nomination this year and decided to give it a try. I got the Jerk Chicken Mini Meal (which I think is more than enough food for lunch) which cost $6.50. Although I think the plantain and rice that came with it wasn't that great, the chicken itself was extremely flavorful and spicy. More pictures below...

Bo Ssam at Momofuku

Last weekend, I celebrated my friend Mark's birthday at Momofuku Ssam Bar. The main purpose of going to Ssam Bar was to order the Bo Ssam - whole roasted pork butt, oysters, bibb lettuce, two kinds of kimchi and two sauces combined in any manner that pleases your taste buds.

I can't say I've been convinced that pork and oysters go well together, but the meal was simply amazing. More pics below...

Alice's Tea Cup

Brunch is great thing and any excuse to have breakfast food at a meal other than breakfast is OK by me.

One of my favorite places in the city to have brunch is Alice's Tea Cup. The name and decor of the restaurant is inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland with Alice-inspired art and quotes lining the walls. Dishes and tea are served on what I would describe as "mismatched" china, but I feel this only adds to the restaurant's overall charm. With 3 locations in Manhattan, Alice's is best known for its lengthy tea list and freshly baked scones. Scone flavors rotate daily, but once you try their pumpkin scone (pictured above), you'll never order any other flavor. If you are in the mood for a serious meal, the brunch menu offers a tasty selection of breakfast goodies - eggs, crepes, pancakes and such. My personal favorite is Poached Eggs with Smoked Salmon on a Buttermilk Scone.

More pictures below...

Caracas Arepa Bar

It's been quite some time since I've posted anything and what can I say but I just haven't gotten around to it. I've been saving up some things I've wanted to post about and now that I have much more free time on my hands, I'll see if I can just get them all out on a regular basis over the next week or so.

Anyhoo... a couple weeks ago, I had dinner with a friend of mine at Caracas Arepa Bar in the Lower East Side. The place dishes up freshly made arepas, which are made-to-order and are hot and toasty when they get to your table. As you can see, it's tiny and we had to wait about an hour for a table, but it was worth it for some delicious delcious beef and chorizo in our bellies. If you're not in the mood to wait for a table, they have a "To Go" version a couple of stores down. However, arepas are still made-to-order so don't expect fastfood-like speed.

More pictures below...

Neo-Japanese Cuisine at Ono

Last night, I had dinner with my uncle and cousin at Ono, a neo-Japanase restaurant located in the Hotel Gansevoort in the Meatpacking District. My uncle is visiting New York this weekend and he was in the mood for some good Japanese and was fine spending a pretty penny to get some (needless to say, I couldn't get a table at Morimoto on such late notice). Although definitely not for the budget conscious, Ono delivered a memorable meal which I would be more than happy to have again.

The concept of the restaurant is "family-style" eating with dishes placed in the center of the table for diners to share. I personally enjoy eating this way more as you get to try a lot more dishes, and as we were taught when we were little - everyone has more fun when you share. Highlights of the meal included Spicy Crab Pizza with avocado, radish sprouts and red miso, Duck and Lychee Robata (basically pieces of duck breast and lychee skewered and grilled - the combination of the saltiness from the duck and intense sweetness from the lychee was surprisingly satisfying), and Garlic Rubbed Whole Sea bass with black beans and peppercress. However, the definite star of the meal was the Togarashi-crusted Rib Eye, a 28 oz dry aged piece of Wagyu (Kobe) beef served with a red wine teryaki sauce (seen above - yes, you can start drooling if you already haven't). 

More pictures below...

Bruce Lee as Fast Food Chain Mascot

It's settled. I've found the single greatest corporate mascot of all time. Fast Food Critic is reporting that a fast food chain in China called Kung Fu uses Bruce Lee as it mascot. Let's just say, Ronald McDonald should find a good hiding place to avoid getting his ass kicked. Check out the articles below for more pictures and the story.

Kung Fu Fast Food, with Bruce Lee? (Fast Food Critic)
'Kung Fu' Fast Food Chain Has Bruce Lee as Mascot (Serious Eats)
Kung Fu Fast Food (When Eating A Wolf)

Using Statistics to Beat the Shake Shack Line

Blogger Vinicius Vacanti has taken a unique approach to beating the long lines at the Shake Shack. He took line lengths reported by Twitter users over the last four months and graphed the average wait time throughout the day. I especially like his comment about the 60-minute or "third tree" long wait that some of us (who don't have interns to line up for us) have had to endure. Still, it always seems worth it once you dive into your Shackburger and cheese fries. Click on the link below to continue to the article.

Shake Shack Without The Wait (Vinicius Vacanti)

Flushing's answer to the New York burger craze

A friend of mine, George (who will probably be helping me with the design of this blog), told me that I had to go to this burger place that he loves in Flushing and talk about it on Belly Blabber. So we decided to head to Flushing tonight and grab some dinner at Joe's Best Burger.

What makes Joe's different from your normal fast food burger joint is that they use FRESH ingredients (or so says their website) and the burgers are cooked to order, which kind of makes it sound like the East Coast equivalent of In-N-Out Burger. I'm not saying that the burgers are as good as In-N-Out (or Shake Shack for that matter), but they were pretty tasty. My only complaint was that the burger was cooked through a little bit more than I would have liked. Also, Joe's serves its fresh cut fries with special "gourmet" sauces like Chipotle BBQ, Roasted Garlic and Mango Chutney. I tried Chipotle BBQ, and I did enjoy it. But I have to say - although the combination was interesting, I still prefer ketchup with my fries. In terms of fast food burgers, Joe's is a definite step up from Mcdonald's or Wendy's, and worth a stop if you're already in the area.

More pictures below...

A Visit to Ithaca

Over the Labor Day weekend, I took a trip back to my old campus in Ithaca, New York to visit my girlfriend. While most of my college life was spent eating like a poor student (There was that one semester where my roommates and I basically alternated between Chinese food and Subway each meal), I think I was able to sample a fair amount of Ithaca's offerings in terms of food fare. With the Ithaca area reportedly having a higher restaurant per capita ratio than New York City, it isn't too much of a surprise that there are quite a few really good places.



Here is a short list of my favorite Ithaca eateries.

Maxie's Supper Club

I think the main reason I love this place so much is because of my love for barbecue and Southern food, and Maxie's allows me to enjoy both. Personal favorites are the Fried Green Tomatoes, Cajun Fries and the Pulled Pork Plate (and if you order all of that, I recommend sharing it with at least one other person). However, the best option is definitely the raw bar, which you can get half off from 4-6 PM everyday for happy hour. Fresh shucked oysters (usually 2 or 3 varieties) with some drinks are definitely the way to go when making a visit. It can get pretty busy at times so a reservation is recommended, especially if you are going in a big group (5+ people).

Wings Over Ithaca

There is nothing quite as satisfying as having a big order of Wings Over Ithaca in the middle of the night, or even better after a long workout. However, you haven't had Wings until you've eaten it in the actual restaurant. The fries, onion rings and wings are crispy and fresh as they haven't been steaming in a covered delivery package for 20 minutes or so. Aside from the standard Buffalo, Garlic Parmesan is a personal favorite, but Cajun Teryaki and Honey Mustard are quite good as well. In addition, I strongly suggest ordering bone-in wings as they are juicier and tend to have more flavor. However, if you are in a rush, your order will get to you MUCH quicker if you order boneless. Till this day, its the one thing I have to have whenever I visit Ithaca.

Kilpatrick's Publick House

My roommates and I discovered Kilpatrick's pretty late in our stay at Cornell. From the outside, this Irish pub looks like any other, but in fact it boasts a very decent menu. Also, if you can get one of the booths in the back, you get your own mini-TV (with cable!) that you can program to any channel. The burgers are quite good - juicy and HUGE, and the Irish Fries pretty much describe themselves (Beer battered fries smothered in smoked bacon, green onions and pepper jack cheese). My personal favorite is the Hen of the Woods burger, which is topped with Swiss cheese, sauteed wild mushrooms, bacon, sweet onions, lettuce, tomato and herb mayonnaise. I think what sealed the deal was the Ithaca Bakery cheese bread that they served us (for free), the first time we were there. However, the other times we've gone, we were just served normal rolls, so you may not be quite as lucky when you make your visit.