Chinatown

Ok so I’m on a Chinese food roll lately, so here’s another Chinatown mention….

I like the Chinatown in NY better than the one in San Francisco. I know the one in Frisco is supposed to be bigger and better but I beg to differ.

I have checked out markets, vendors, eaten Dim Sum and gotten massages (torturous ones - to be expected) numerous times here and love the area. It is unbelievable what you can find. Everything from fresh produce, dried herbs and vegetables, fresh fish (and frogs and turtles), lots of bakeries and shops where you can buy Asian imports and all sorts of cookery gadgets.

We also discovered lots of bakeries in the area who sell a mix of both Asian and Western desserts. Totally random. Those sweet, chewy steamed dessert buns are so freaking good, they’ve become staples.

The grocery stores in this area are also generally cheaper than anywhere else in town. Shoot, you can buy fruits and veggies right on the street, since there are plenty of street vendors selling from their little tables or carts. Many exotic things that you would buy at a specialty or gourmet store for an arm and a leg can be picked up in Chinatown for half the price, sometimes even better. Take for example a whole pineapple. In Chinatown I saw some for $3 total, at the regular store, it’s at least twice that. Chinatown’s got the little box of tangerines or clementines for $2.99 and Trader Joe’s has them for $6.99. Obviously I want to buy everything at a bargain but being the health nut that I am, I also insist on buying organic. That’s one thing Chinatown does not do. So I have to pick and choose what I can buy non-organic and won’t lose sleep over, such as bananas and tangerines. Even if they are sprayed with pesticides, at least their thick skin protects the actual fruit and you discard it. So that’s what I’ll start buying there. In addition, I’ll probably start picking up pineapples, papayas, mangoes, fish and other seafood such as shrimp and mussels. All are great bargains and relatively safe to buy there, at least that’s my thinking.

Review – Fay Da Bakery

This is such an awesome little bakery in Chinatown, we always stop by after our massage appointments. It’s weird but the Asian bakeries in the area have both Asian and Western pastries. We haven’t tried any of their Western stuff since we usually can’t resist the gooey dumplings.

The good thing is that everything is really cheap so you won’t spend more than a buck fifty on a pastry, which means we make this our lunch after the massages. Can’t be going to fancy ass places all the time.

Last time I got a dried pork roll which was basically a sheet of bread dough, rolled up with lettuce, corn, mayo that was sweet (I’m not sure what the actual sauce was) and dried pork. The meat looked a bit drier than I would have liked but it actually tasted great. Also got a bbq pork fried bun, our favorite steamed gooey and chewy flat dumplings filled with sweet bean paste, a show pow (not sure if it’s spelled this way) which is a dumpling filled with pork, and a chicken steamed bun. I know, they all sound the same and kinda look the same too but once you taste them, you’ll taste the difference. Drool, drool…

Review – Landmarc

Touristy place or better yet, located in a touristy area but with surprisingly good food. We were invited to this place by a co-worker who had some connects, which means we ate way more food than should be legal and some was graciously on the house. Those nice people….

So where to begin. Had the flat bread with roasted tomatoes, cheese and arugula and burger, which was cooked just right but lacked salt and maybe some cheese. These we shared as appetizers. This was preceded by a basket of bread. Darn, by the time the entrees came out, we were already full.

My hubby got the skirt steak medium-rare which was perfect. I don’t say that too often about any food but this one was. My colleague and I decided to share the short rib spaghetti (spicy which I was not warned about) and the pork chop with apples and spinach (flavorful but a bit dry due to its ginormous size). Holy guacamole, it was wayyy too much food. Nevertheless, I’m sure I made a spectacle of myself as I put a pretty decent dent in it.

We decided that there was absolutely no more room for a morsel when the house comped us dessert. And I’m not talking about one dessert to share amongst the three of us, I’m talking about the whole damn tray of dessert. We got to sample chocolate mousse, tiramisu, lemon tart, crème brulee, chocolate profiterole and finally the piece de resistance, grape-flavored cotton candy. I should have worn sweat pants.

By the way, sorry about the pictures of the massacred meat, didn't remember to take pics until most was gone.



Food Product Displays

There is much to be said for the way food is displayed, not only on your plate but even in the store. Some of you might have heard of marketing techniques stores use such as placing their most popular products at eye-level on the shelf. I don’t know more about advertising than that but I am always keeping an eye out when I go to the store. What are they pushing now, what’s hot and what’s on sale? Most of the time, the stuff that’s on sale is about to expire. Watch out for that.

What really excites me though is to see products displayed in such a way that I can’t resist and buy something totally unnecessary. You know that we eat with our eyes first. If stores don’t take advantage of that, they’ll never succeed. There are plenty of ways to display food but here’s what really makes me giddy. Watch and learn.

Yes

Yes 

No (although there is some pretty darn good German chocolate pictured here) 

Yes 

Hell yes 

Another hell yes - these are gorgeous tomatoes by the way

Review – Momofuku Milk Bar

Yes, this name sounds funny but it’s a really popular spot and rightly so. There are various Momofukus in Manhattan and the Milk Bar is their dessert spot. Guess they serve regular food there too (maybe I’m just remembering wrong) but we went there for dessert. Went once again with friends which is always better because you get to sample whatever they buy too. So between the four of us, we had the following:

Compost cookie (a mix of random things including pretzels, potato chips, coffee, oats, butterscotch and chocolate chips)

Peanut Butter cookie

Coconut Tangerine Cake Truffles

Birthday Cake Truffles

Crack Pie (oat crust and butter filling)

White Russian Milkshakes

It was all unusual and good. My favorite were the coconut cake truffles, which I ordered. Not sure how to describe them, they weren’t truffles like the regular chocolate truffles most are familiar with. They were like small balls of cake made to look like a truffle. And the cake dough was chewy like it hadn’t been baked fully, so maybe a mix between a cake and cookie dough. Hm, it’s a mystery, you’ll have to experience it for yourself.

The milkshake was something my husband and a friend ordered. Boy, that sucker is strooong. And of course very filling. They regretted their decision afterwards since we’d had a heavy dinner, all those darn truffles and cookies and then the shakes. Gotta try their food food next time.

Review – Shake Shack

This is another one of those institutions praised by all and featured on TV. As the TV hinted, the lines are ridiculous. There are a few locations in NYC, but we decided to try the Times Square location. In hindsight, maybe picking the most crowded tourist location in the city wasn’t a smart choice, but oh well, we survived.

This joint is known for its burgers and shakes. We were absolutely famished so we definitely decided on their burgers and skipped the shakes, mostly because of cost but also because I make milkshakes at home frequently.

I ordered the Shackburger (490 calories which I just looked up) which is a cheeseburger topped with lettuce, onions, tomatoes and pickles. It actually just comes with two of those toppings so you have to ask for the other extras. My hubby ordered the same thing as a double-decker (two patties & cheese). We both ordered fries (same calorie count as my burger) and he got an Arnold Palmer as well. I stuck with my usual water. Doesn’t seem like a lot of food but the bill still came out to $20 something bucks.

The line to order was long, waiting for a table and/or seat to become available was longer and then waiting for our food took the longest. As soon as our beeper indicated our order was ready, my husband dashed for the pickup while I secured our seats.

The burgers were a good size and looked delicious. Turned out they were pretty good too. The meat was juicy and tender, cooked medium which was just right. The toppings were the usual suspects and then the whole thing had a dollop of special sauce thrown on it (most likely mayo and ketchup). At that moment, everything hit the spot. I think, a cardboard cutout of a burger would have hit the spot. Overall though, the burger lacked seasoning. It wasn’t salty enough which was too bad because the meat was cooked perfectly. The fries were big, salty and filling since my burger did not curb my hunger.

My husband agreed that the burger was good but also said the bit of extra salt would have made a difference. We are also biased in our burger judging since we compared it to the In-N-Out burger from California. So far, haven’t found one that beat that but the Shake Shack burger was pretty close. I’d definitely recommend it, however make sure you don’t go there when you are starving. The line will drive you nuts.

Review – Mono+Mono

This place was literally one block away from our one-month sublet we stayed in when we first got here but we just made it there now that we are in Brooklyn. A friend recommended it so we tagged along late one evening.

The restaurant is super cool with an entire huge wall lined with records and even has a revolving record conveyer belt. Not sure how else to describe that. Low lighting with somewhat jazzy music make a very comfy hang-out for friends.

We sat down and ordered family style, meaning we shared everything but I guess that’s not a must. We ordered their famously twice fried chicken smothered in various sauces, a side order of fried rice, their fois gras meatball appetizer and fries. The fries were served first with an accompaniment of three dipping sauces. I thought it was weird that they brought out the fries by themselves instead of waiting for the chicken but I was starving so I dove in along with my friends. The meatballs came second and were tiny. There was one per person so that was a waste of money. 30-40 minutes later (I’m not kidding), the chicken was brought out. All of us were famished. We attacked the chicken and cleaned the plate within 5 minutes. We realized that the rice hadn’t been brought out so we alerted our waitress. And then we ordered another damn chicken plate. The rice came out halfway through the chicken waiting time. We divided the cup of rice between the four of us. Another rip-off. The second chicken batch came and we once again massacred it. At that point, I could have maybe eaten one or two more drumsticks but was content as is. The others seemed to fare the same way.

During the course of the evening, I noticed that one leg of my chair was broken. I started exchanging it with another chair and the waitress came to inquire about it. I told her the chair should be removed since it was hazardous to customers but instead of taking it off the floor, she just moved it to a corner of another table. Possible future lawsuit?...

The overall experience was ok at this joint. The chicken was really superb. It wasn’t coated in batter or anything else and the skin was absolutely perfectly crisp. The seasoning was also delicious and made for some of the best chicken to date. The sides were good but very small and too pricey. The atmosphere is nice but the wait time is ridiculous. Not sure I’d go back. Maybe, if I’m feeling particularly patient that day.