Dishes of the Week: 2/5/16
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).