Posts Tagged With: NYC restaurants

10 Things to Try in Eataly

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Ziggy

Something I don’t do nearly enough is read other food blogs. I wish I had the time to just chillax for a full day and read nothing but food blogs. No wife, no work, no kids, just me, myself and blogs. Not possible. But whenever we are about to travel somewhere I put the blog reading on the next gear, and naturally these days I read Italian food blogs. I noticed that not only I get many ideas on what to eat on our upcoming trip in the summer, but I also get plenty of ideas on how to improve the blog.

For example the excellent Katie Parla blog (which I found last fall while researching New Orleans and got the a great Boucherie reco from her) and Elizabeth Manchilli in Rome (and Florence) have given me something to think about, like that my site ~~sucks~~ does not have enough lists. So I gave you Best Pizza in Hell earlier this month and now I figured I’ll write about Eataly. A place dear to my heart and wallet (my wallet strongly believes in keeping your friends close and enemies closer)10 years ago I used to work right across the street from Eataly where it was a Toy Building. While we were too busy at work ~~checking out the modeling action on 22nd st with our binoculars~~ working, we didn’t have much time to check out the toys back then. But nowadays we go there often. Eataly is busy, hectic, full of Italians for some reason, and very very touristy, but for good reason. You can easily spend an entire day there. Well, I can! During the last few years I spent a lot of time there eating, drinking, shopping and learning elementary Italian cursing like “tuo padre è un pollo” (your father is a chicken) comes in handy. So without further ado, here are 10 things to try while visiting Eataly to make your visit more memorable

Sorry about some of the Iphone photos.

1) Italian Soda. My new obsession. The refreshingly citrusy Cedrata, Gazzosa, the ‘root beer on crack’ Chinoto, the lightly sweetened Gus Sodas. Buy a few and see what you like. All with natural ingredients and some like the Gazzosa feature the famous lemons of Amalfi

2) Maitake Mushrooms at Birreria – Put your name down for the roof garden, and wait for the text. The text is your gateway to some of the most delicious Mushrooms you will ever eat. Perfectly chewy and savory Maitake with Pecorino cheese. One of about 3 or 4 dishes in their mushroom section along with nice Oyster mushrooms and fried shiitakes. Also try the Cotechino sausage and pork shoulder

3) Grande Piatto Misto Di Salumi & Formaggi at La Piazza – Say what? thats right. A nice little assortment of the best cheese and Salumi of the day in the Piazza. Prosciutto, salami, 4 different kinds of cheese, honey, figs and more. Add a glass of one of their fine whites and its like having an aperitivo in Piazza Navona staring at la Fontana dei Fiumi. Except that you are in Eataly, inside a building, staring at a German tourist’s sandals with socks.

4) Asparagus and Egg at Le Verdure. Another example that adding egg to anything will make it better. My favorite from the veggie menu of Le Verdure

5) Cacio e Pepe at La Pasta. “A so a simple and a so good a”. Cheese, black pepper, al dente pasta is apparently all you need to make this Roman classic. Perfection on a plate. So what am I doing wrong?

6) Gnocchi at La Pasta – To compliment your Cacio e pepe. Gnocchi, with 3 hours braised + 3 hour cooked + 3 hour groin massaged, wonderful melt in your mouth lamb shank. Also try the Neapolitan pizza while there

7) Fresh Agnolotti cacio e pepe – This is to buy. Pillowy delicate Agnolotti stuffed with pecorino and black pepper. Don’t overcook. Set the timer to what it says on the box – I believe about 3-4 minutes after returning to boil. Add some freshly shredded cheese and butter and invite me for dinner and Voila! I found that a little more than 1 pound (1.2) feeds a hungry family of 4.

8) Truffle sauces. Walk all the way to the right pass the dry pasta section, and you’ll see this mostly Urbani truffle heaven. It will do wonders to your pasta. Just don’t overdo it – add just one of those little babies and invite me for inspection. You can also visit the Urbani NYC headquarters on 11th in the 50’s (I forget)

9) Pesce Alla Diamantese at IL Pesce – Seared fish of the day cooked with tomato sauce, olives, Calabrian Chiles, fennel and capers. Savory, great flaky texture and absolutely delicious. Well played Mario.

10) Gelato – Duh!! Try the Stracciatella (sort of like choc chip) and Nocciola (hazelnut). Fantastic gelato

So there you have it. Buon Appetito, and stay hungry my friends. Some more food porn…

Le Philosophe

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Ziggy

November 1st, 2015 Update: Despite the mediocre mussels this time, still loving Le Philosophe. Over the past few years it transformed into a fine neighborhood bistro. The classics are still on the menu, but the numerous nightly specials must get some attention. The Lobster Thermidor puts all other overly rich Thermidors we’ve had in the Caribbean over the years to shame. The Tournedos Rossini is still a nice ode to the classic, and so are the frog legs with Hen of the Woods (aka Maitake) Mushrooms. The mussels this time did not have the “Balls” of the old ones. Hope they didnt change suppliers. But those Profiteroles, even if you are remotely into Profiteroles, you must get them. Earlier this year, a new half sister called L’Antagoniste was born in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn. Hoping to get there one day, but considering the location its a tough sell.

May 27, 2013 Post:

I don’t wear a single piece of jewelry. For the same reason I don’t wear turtlenecks. I have this thing where if I do wear anything excessive, I would constantly feel the need to free myself of it. Every inch of my body needs to breath. Every inch! I used to wear a watch until I discovered the brilliant invention since the cell phone: Cell phone that shows time.

The last of the Mohicans was a wedding band. By law I had to wear it at all times including funerals. Just in case I would get approached by someone – “Very sorry lady but you see this, I’m a married man”, “Good to know, but I was just wondering if you can spare me some change, as I haven’t eaten in 3 days”.

So with the wedding band, I had the constant need to temporary remove it from the finger and play with it while the finger breathes. And occasionally I would drop it somewhere like in a movie theatre where I would wait until the lights came on in order to find it. But I dropped it the most inside my couch while watching sports. And every time I dropped it, it would take me 2 to 4 weeks to find the ~~will~~ time to get the flashlight and dig out the ring from the couch. Occasionally, I would also find an M&M and a grape if I’m lucky in the process. I remember we would have dinner somewhere where Mrs Ziggy would just stare at my bare finger and go “Inside the couch?” and I would just nod with embarrassment. And so as soon as I got the ring out during the 4th archeological dig, I found myself staring at Mrs Ziggy’s angry hand. She took the ring, and I haven’t seen a piece of jewelry since.

So whats your point Ziggy? My point is I don’t need jewelry to remind myself or anyone that I’m married. In 2 weeks it will be 20 years of being married to the most wonderful ~~cougar~~ woman on the planet. And on her birthday last week, this classy lady deserved nothing less than a classy meal. Hence, the longest prelude to a review on EatingWithZiggy.

The meal at Le Philosophe in Noho (near the east village) was one of the most satisfying of the year. One of those rare meals where every dish offered interesting flavors and did not disappoint. The menu consists of old school French classics that you don’t see in French bistros anymore. As usual I did some homework on what to order and we (4 of us – Hummus Whisperer and “I don’t like to share” wife joined us) couldn’t be happier with the results…

Frog Legs – Completely not the legs I expected. More like a beautiful salad with hen of the woods mushrooms, sunchoke, deboned legs, and a very nice garlicky sauce

Mussels – Fantastic Maine mussels, some of the biggest I’v had. Along with potatoes and more great sauce which became the theme of the night

Escargot – Another classic that didnt look anything like the classic. Major garbanzo presence and more amazing (black garlic, sort of curry’ish) sauce

Tournedos Rossini – Great dish. Its essentially a Filet Mignon sitting on top of a brioche slice, and a piece of Foie gras on top of that. Didnt care for the Foie much, but the filet was perfectly cooked (medium rare, more toward rare) and very flavorful for a filet, perfect with that madeira sauce. I’m more convinced now that Filet Mignon can only be enjoyed with a nice Madeira sauce. Asparagus was a bit too buttery

Duck a l’Orange – Had a few bites and thought it was perfectly cooked, nicely crisped, delicious duck. Not too orangy, more of an orange hint

Black Bass – Another winner. More incredible sauce with dill and mint, perhaps the finest of the night

Maine Lobster Thermidor – Ordered by the “no sharing policy” member of the group who enjoyed it. It did not look like the messy Thermidor I’m accustomed to.

Profiteroles – Awesome

Chocolate Mousse with Passion fruit – Awesomer! Lately I shy away from the Mousses (Mice?) but this was different and with that bitter hints of the fruit absolutely delicious. Although the women didn’t care much for the bitterness.

On one of the walls there’s a mural depicting various French philosophers. From what I understand if you guess all the philosophers you get a free flu shot. We only guessed Voltaire, so left exposed but very well fed. Happy birthday Mrs Ziggy.

Categories: East Village, New York City | Tags: food, Le Philosophe, Le Philosophe NYC, NYC dining, NYC restaurants, restaurants | Leave a comment

Da Andrea, Meet my New Canon T4i

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Ziggy

Well, not really. That was the dream title I was envisioning, but the jew in me somewhat missed the fact that B&H closes at 2:00 pm on Friday. My brilliant plan of going to B&H after work, proceeding to take pictures of pretty flowers and painted rope, followed by dinner at Da Andrea the next day did not go exactly as planned. Instead its: Da Andrea, Meet my (suddenly battery ~~challenged~~ comatose) Iphone 5.

So earlier this month I was asked by members of a Trip Advisor community to pick a restaurant for a meet up. Sort of a no brainer. I’ve been to Da Andrea about 8-9 times now, probably more than any other place in the city. Second only to Caicos Café in Turks and Caicos on the planet (it feels weird writing that. I frequent a place in some remote island more than any other place in NYC. Poor kids, now have to rely on their grandparents for continued education. Well, thats their problem!).

But an annual trip to Da Andrea, brainchild of a trio from Emilia Romagna, has become routine. This routine started in the old location on Hudson street where we stood on line to get inside a shoe box that did not take reservations. Now, double the size (to a her’s and her’s closet) and still the same old line of village people trying to get in.

We started with the usual, one of the MUSTS especially with a group, the Tigelle. Baked on premises tasty buns with some of the most delicious prosciutto you will eat in NYC. A very shareable and tasty snack. The always terrific tower of grilled veggies followed, along with the grilled calamari and octopus salad which I enjoyed more this time than last year (especially the former)

But I’m here for one of my old time favorites, homemade Pappardelle with sweet sausage and truffle oil (half a plate pictured below). Its like a nice glass of wine where the scent of the truffles hits you right away, signaling the level of yumminess to the brain before you even taste it. I order this in other places such as Il Melograno in midtown which I enjoy, but no one makes it like in Da Andrea. Another winner was a rich but light risotto special. Tiramisu here is top notch as well.

I noticed recently they started taking reservations online which is great, but on this one I rather stick to tradition and start the process with a “Buona Sera”. Great food, great new friends, what else can I ask for. A new camera, which I got a week later. Buona Sera friends, and enjoy more Iphone 5 pics

Categories: New York City, West Village | Tags: Da Andrea, Da Andrea NYC, food, NYC dining, NYC eats, NYC restaurants, restaurants | 1 Comment

Chote Nawab – Dinner and movie, without the movie

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Ziggy

As I’m munching on a fiery Indian snack I picked up at a deli in Curry Hill/Little India, I ask myself how come I don’t visit that area more often. I love Indian food, I eat Indian on a regular basis, and I love Bollywood movies. Ok, the last part is not really true. But whenever I pick my Indian order at Basera Indian Bistro I find myself staring at some pretty neat Bollywoody action for a few minutes. I think over the years I’ve watched an entire movie 2 minutes at the time. Just like with Full House episodes at home as my kids watch it religiously for some time now. My favorite part of that Bollywood movie is when the bad guy dies, the pretty girl is rescued, and a huge dance-off unfolds which includes the dead guy.

Chhote Nawab (with the extra h there) was a Bollywood movie, a bad one looks like according the 12 votes on IMDB. Why on earth would they name a restaurants after a terrible movie that received 12 votes on IMDB. Bloomberg do something! Is it because owner, Shiva Natarajan who owns more than 10 other establishments including 3 on the same block as Chote Nawab simply ran out of possible names? Ok, lets get to business…

Fantastic meal! I’m not sure I’ve had better Indian in NYC including some of the higher end spots

Waiter was extremely delighted with my first choice of the Tunde Ke kebab (“Very good choice sir”) as an app but then things went south in a hurry as he got a little annoyed when we asked for 2 main veggy dishes to bring with the first course as well. With that said I prefer a waiter that speaks his mind and we proceeded to have a nice chat later on.

The Tunde Ke kebab (pictured on top) was interesting but after a few bites I felt the need to have something else with it like the veggies or some sauce, which doesnt take anything away from the dish. It came sizzling in a dutch oven, with a spoon sitting on top which we could have used as a potato in a hot potato game.

Bindi Sasuralwali – it says on the menu “okra you would eat at your in laws house” – Flat out lie! Not my in laws I’ll tell you that. I’m not even sure they know what Okra is. But the dish was good and so was the eggplant with a nice peanut masala (Baghara Baigan Mirchi)

Shrimp Pappas was another sauce dish. Not one of my favorites but enjoyable nonetheless. Its cooked with Kokum, an Indian fruit and came with one dried Kokum which didnt taste that great but the dish overall worked well.

Lamb Biryani was one of the better Biryanis I’ve had. Tastes much better thna it looks. Comes with 2 sauces but I didnt feel the need for any. The only thing I wished I had ordered the goat instead if the lamb. Loved the bread covering it – nice touch. BTW, the garlic naan is very good here

The highlight for me was the Chicken Kori Gassi which was packed with flavor. Couldnt stop eating it. The chicken was super tender and very tasty. And a decent amount of heat as with most of the dishes we got

Overall, lets just say I took my time before I washed my hands later that day. Thoroughly enjoyed Chote Nawab

Chicken Kori Gassi

Categories: Gramercy, Flatiron, New York City | Tags: Chote Nawab, Chote Nawab nyc, food, NYC food, NYC restaurants, restaurants | 6 Comments

Best Pizza in Hell

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Ziggy

Who said you cant get good pizza in Hell’s Kitchen? I did!! Time and time again. But things are different now. I’ve scouted, examined, food poisoned the neighborhood to death for you loyal readers, both of yous. Here are the results…

Sacco – You want 99 cents slice? Plenty around. But if you want the quintessential New York slice done right, you head to Sacco, in business for over 50 years. The slice holds it own, nothing soggy, perfect thickness and full of flavor. You will be hard pressed to find a better NY slice.

Don Antonio – The Las Vegas of the NY pizza. Meaning its not exactly your average NY pizza hole in the wall. A full menu of antipasti and a huge array of pies. This is Neapolitan pizza at its best from the Keste (west village) master and Antonio Starita from the famed Pizzeria Starita a Materdei in Naples. Need I say more? I have no idea who they are but it sure sounds impressive. I’ve sampled about 8 pies here. Try the lightly fried Montanara for something a little different, or the Diavola with the Sopressata which is meatier and milder than Merilu’s. Wood burning oven means don’t get too comfortable. You will get your pies within minutes. Great for sharin

John’s Pizzeria – Another old-timer. Eat and pray. This is the touristy one with good cause, set in a former church. Like a huge pizza diner. No slices here and no individual pies like Don Antonio so not that sharing friendly. But what you get is fresh ingredients and an excellent overall pie. Love the Margheritas here

Merilu – From Torino to NYC, Merilu with her 4 children and cousins (husband just eats the stuff, my kind of family) are making some great oblong shaped pies. Is it a rectangle? Is it oval? Who knows, who cares, its delicious. Thin tasty crust with just the right balance of ingredients. My favorite is the spicy sopressata. If they have it out that day that is. Otherwise try the Margherita or anything else that looks good on the display. And if you come on Friday or Saturday you can also experience “the Merilu the meatball a”. Juicy, meaty, cheesy goodness. Fantastico stuff!

Capizzi – A solid alternative to the Don Antonio, John’s craziness and perhaps the closest thing to a pizza parlor you can only find in the outer boroughs. The ingredients speak for themselves, like the bright fresh tomato sauce and the extra meaty pepperoni and sausages

So there you have it. I’m pretty sure I’m not missing anything but if I am, comment away. Buon Appetito Amigos.

Categories: Midtown West, New York City | Tags: Annabel NYC, Best pizza midtown west, best pizza nyc, Don Antonio NYC, food, merilu nyc, NYC eats, NYC restaurants, restaurants, sacco nyc, Travel | 8 Comments

Dear Diary: What to order in Scarpetta

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Ziggy

Doctor’s Orders. That’s what I tell people sometimes when they ask me why I’ve started a blog. My doctor ordered me to start tracking what I eat. Not entirely true. My doctor cares more about what I should be snipping than eating. But the tracking part is true. I love the fact that I finally found a space where I can write about my eats in sort of an organized fashion, just in case I need to retrieve something. Like the other day when I took a group of friends to Beso, I simply looked at the site to see what we liked on our first visit. Or when someone asked us about our Israel itinerary. Brilliant!! 🙄

Something tells me I will need to revisit this post in the future. When my wife and visiting friend from Boston who we shall call Milena, because that’s her name, asked me to order for everyone I was like…(insert angel sound affect). On my second visit to Scarpetta I felt I perfected the ordering part a little more. Here’s one way to experience the best of Scarpetta

1st Course:

The bread – Still one of the best bread baskets in NYC, some of which comes from Sullivan Street Bakery I believe. Stromboli, a nice touch. This is like a full app and more

Raw Yellowtail – Wow! New for us this time. Thick buttery goodness with chunky sea salt. So so good!

Palenta with truffled mushrooms. Still amazing. Definitely one of the classics here. Very creamy, very good, and very grateful my wife does not eat mushrooms.

2nd course:

Spaghetti – Its almost silly calling it a signature dish since there are so many great items on the menu. But its definitely delicious and one of the best Spaghetti with red sauce and basil you will ever eat (likely). The sauce is probably still the best Ive had

Agnolloti – They keep changing the Agnolloti. This time with bone marrow and short rib. Last time with rabbit. But the main difference this time was the breadcrumby crunchy garlic chips. One of my favorite dishes here

3rd course:

Ravioli – Still terrific. stuffed with duck and Foie Gras with Marsala reduction. Although enjoyable I got bored with it eventually unlike some of the other dishes.

Roasted Chicken – Wow this was good. Nice and salty Spaetzle with some very tasty carrots. Chicken was moist and juicy. Enjoyed this much more than the cod last time. Chicken is sort of making a comeback for me in places like this. Trend started at Louro which delivered big time.

4th Course:

Warm Banana Bread – much better than the previous soupy mess of the coconut pana cotta. Great stout ice cream.

Chocolate cake – very good

Only problem was wait between courses was far from even and too rushed at times. They gave us 10 seconds to enjoy the great bread basket before bringing the apps. And the third course was brought in as soon as they took the plates.

Nevertheless Dear Diary, a perfect meal. Looking forward to next visit where I try nothing new

Categories: Chelsea, New York City | Tags: Chelsea restaurants, food, NYC dining, NYC food, NYC restaurants, restaurants, Scarpetta, Scarpetta NYC, Travel | 1 Comment

Aska and You Shall Receive

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Ziggy

There comes a time in life when you have to count your blessings for not being allergic to shellfish. Otherwise, you quickly find out if you are allergic to cow’s thyroid or a goat’s heart. Or baby formula!

Aska, is one of those places that you book first and research later. The immediate “hotness” it got off the bat coincided with “where am I eating on my birthday” to the point where I quickly had to reserve a table for 2 before the critics pour in. But the more I looked into it, the more I questioned the decision, especially after seeing the announcement that Saturday’s only option is a 10 courser. Will Mrs Ziggy eat blood sausage, dehydrated scallops, baby formula, cow’s thyroid, anyone’s thyroid? After taking a quick glance at the menu Aska emailed to me, her response was “Its ok I guess”. Good enough for me!

This was a memorable meal to say the least. 20 diners at the back of an art studio, 20 servants (including cooks and the man himself Mr Berselius bringing you teh final touches with the explanations), what seemed like 10o people by the bar, Morrissey blasting in the background, and one extremely interesting 10 courser.

Ok, before I start any rumors, there was no baby formula on this night nor any night as far as I know. But it did cross my mind while we were eating our apple sauce and milk

Started off with some delicious bread, crispy hard bread with whipped NY butter.

Molasses shortbread, trout roe and cheese was interesting. Seemed more like an Amuse than one of the courses

Hay, milk, tomatoes, parsnip, and milk salad. Clearly the best Hay, tomatoes, parsnip and milk salad I ever had. Seriously this was good. I couldn’t help comparing to the amazing Jungsik salad from the night before but this was inventive and satisfying. Great tasting veggies

Parsnip with brown butter and more whipped butter thank you. Delicious! The closest I get to eating parsnip normally is the leftovers from the veggies my wife throws out right after finishing making her chicken and bean bullion. So best Parsnip I ever had goes without saying. Berselius really does a great job bringing all those veggies to life.

Pheasant with sunchoke, liver. Sort of a Pheasant extravaganza with both the dark and white meat (much preferred the dark), and the liver which integrated nicely with the broth of the cooked sunchoke. Sunchoke itself had a nice crispy texture

Blood pudding with seabuckthorn, lardo, dill and anchovies. Pretty to look at without much substance, like Paris Hilton. Didnt care much for this one

Oats, tiny bits of bone marrow, Shad roe, egg yolk (pictured on top). Just like mama makes! All worked together beautifully. one of my favorite dishes of the night.

Pork and beets. A very tasty piece of fatty pork belly and the beets were another example of the great taste Berselius brings out of veggies. Beets is something I never order and the only time I eat them is with an occasional red Borscht, but this was simply delicious.

Whelk – Snails of the sea. Dont believe I ever had them. Although it was very interesting and you could really sort of taste the sea here, it wasn’t one of our favorites. But loved the dehydrated scallop “chips” that cam along

Beef, Burnt potatoes. 60 days aged served rare and very tasty. Potatoes were smoky and fantastic. Add sweet onion – Great dish.

Egg yolk. Not a fave of this one. Looked more promising than its tasted. Sort of sticky, gummy and not much flavor

Apple sauce, oats, cream, baby formula. Awesome! Ok, so there was no baby formula here but as we were discussing with our neighbors it wouldn’t be a total shock to see and Berselius could probably pull it off

Dessert – Some sort of sick ice cream with hazelnuts and other goodies. A great finish.

So there you have it. Dinner was a 4 hour marathon with a lot of big breaks between the dishes. It was mostly a local crowd with the exception perhaps of one particular couple that looked like Michelin inspectors. It was fun seeing the boys (all but one) casually Williamsburg dressed do their thing. Would I come back? Probably not but still a very enjoyable, memorable meal and perhaps the closest I will ever get to Noma, considered by many the world’s top restaurant in Copenhagen.

Categories: Brooklyn, New York City | Tags: Aska, Aska Brooklyn, Aska nyc, food, NYC, NYC dining, NYC eats, NYC food, NYC restaurants, restaurants | 1 Comment

Jungsik Style

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Ziggy

Sorry about the grainy pictures. Looking for a new camera. And a photographer.

Part 1 of a crazy B-day eating weekend. Myself, the Hummus Whisperer, candle light, and a 10 courser which was more like 16 once you include all the freebies. Jungsik was just about on top of the places to try list. Gourmet Korean? Korean influenced American? Not too clear. But what I’m sure about is that this is fine dining that even Dennis Rodman can appreciate.

This was a truly spectacular meal and one of the top overall dining experiences we both ever had. From the beer, to the various flavors, surprises, and presentation. A total culinary triumph.

But with all that glitziness and professionalism we still could not help but imagine an Arirang-like scene where they dim the lights and crank out a crazy Jungsik style happy birthday routine. So immature!

Here’s a dish by dish recap…

Great bread trio especially the barley with raisin. I’m not sure if it was by design but we only got the bread around midway

An Amuse Bouche plate like I’ve never seen (below)

Wonderfully smoky clam chowder. One of the best I’ve had. I might as well copy the “one of the best I’ve had” line to the clipboard

First course of Foie Gras – One of the best I’ve had. Certainly the sweetest, and creamiest. What a glorious start

Yook Hwe – Enjoyed it although I enjoyed my seaweed risotto birthday freebie a bit more which came at the same time. Supposedly its a Korean tradition to eat this on birthdays as it adds a year to ones life. Ordered 50 more

Jungsik Salad – Cant even begin to describe this. Simply an amazing combination of flavors

Octopus – Another big hit. Braised for 3 hours, very tender and a wonderful soy pepper sauce compliments it so nicely. One of the best I’ve had

Pork Jowl – very good. Couldn’t decide if I liked it more without the slightly overwhelming accompanying Blue Cheese

Paella – With squid. Started slowly but was sort of growing on me and by the end I loved the dish and the aftertaste

Snapper – Terrific. So good looking I forgot to take a picture. Hot oil poured on the skin to integrate it nicely and give it that crispy texture. Very tasty.

Steak (top) – 2 pieces of savory Wagyu. I think I would prefer with only a touch of kimchee sauce or none but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

Desserts courses were great as well especially the pumpkin cheesecake. They added 2 more dessert courses and by the last course I was fighting it a little.

So there you have it. This is not cheap of course as the cost of the 10 course tasting is $155 and overall damage of around $450, but worth every penny. Check out Jungsik readers. Both of you!

Categories: New York City, TriBeCa | Tags: food, Jungsik, Jungsik NYC, NYC, NYC dining, NYC food, NYC restaurants, restaurants | 1 Comment

How I spent my Birthday Weekend

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Ziggy

Last weekend will forever be remembered as “The Weekend”. We are still talking about it. We are talking about it with people who don’t really care to hear about it. Like when you have young kids and talk about them constantly even with childless parents who don’t particularly care to hear that nonsense but you don’t care since you are getting a certain enjoyment out of it. Yes, it was that kind of weekend…

Friday – 10 courser at Jungsik with the Hummus Whisperer. One of the best meals I ever had at perhaps the only swanky Korean in the city. Somewhat romantic which made things a bit interesting and uncomfortable for HW. The food was truly a work of art. Foie Gras, salads like I never had before, and about 16 magnificent courses all together if you count all the freebies. And with all the glitziness and professionalism we couldnt help but imagine them dimming the lights for a minute and crank out a special Gangnam Style bday dance

Saturday – 10 courser with the wife at Aska. One of the most highly anticipated and talked about places in the city at the moment. Just us and 18 other diners incluing 2 that looked like Michelin inspectors at the back of an art studio in Williamsburg. Whelk (sea snails), Blood pudding crackers, dehydrated scallops, apple sauce with baby formula, heavy accent chefs come out to explain every dish was only part of the experience. One that we’ll never forget. Ok, there was no baby formula but thats the one place that can pull it off

Sunday – “Normal” meal with the family at Louro in West Village. On top of my list to try for so long no more. Did sort of a tasting menu of our own and besides a few surprising clunkers and a a fancy diner like feeling, another fantastic meal in the city. Some of the best chicken in recent memory. Sort of an American, Italian, Portuguese influenced menu that changes almost on a daily basis by a celebrity chef (David Santos) with a menu OCD

Monday – Unplanned lunch at Cafe Kashkar in Brighton Beach. Delicious Uighur food. Amazing Lagman noodles specialties including a ramen-like soup. Another example that you can find any cuisine you want in NYC. You Googling Uighur arent you?

Categories: New York City | Tags: Aska, Cafe Kashkar, food, Jungsik, Louro, NYC, NYC dining, NYC food, NYC restaurants, restaurants, Uighur | 1 Comment

Lakruwana – The Power of the New York Times

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Ziggy

I don’t know anyone who reads the New York Times. Heck, I don’t know anyone who reads newspapers. Half of my friends don’t even read. I just asked my kids if they even heard of the New York Times… No!! Ok, they are 2 and 3 but still, you get the point. With that said when a restaurant is mentioned in the NYT positively and gets at least one star, look out. To some this is a bigger deal than a Michelin Star. You may even argue that the verdict doesn’t matter as Guy Fieri found out. Attention is attention

On Saturday I took my wife and 4 friends to Lakruwana, a Sri Lankan spot in Staten Island that I’ve written about before here. As soon as we entered the restaurant I suspected something was wrong. Still waiting for water and menus, or a human 20 minutes in, that feeling slightly intensified. Before you knew it, a ‘Godfather’ like line of locals and hipsters out the door trying to get the owner’s attention which we so desperately needed as well. The place was packed. but then it hit me. I’m there for the exact same reason as everyone else. I also read the NYT article a few days earlier about Lakruwana and felt the same urge to cancel my plans (Briskettown in Williamdburg) and go there.

Eventually things settled down, the hipsters left, and we got our food, albeit all the dishes at the same time which is always fun (since there was no room at least one dish had to be held by someone). The food for the most part was very good. Quite an excellent Mulligatawny soup to start things off. Good Lamprais, Hoppers, Kottu Roti (first for me) but what stole the show on this particular night was the Deviled Chicken which I couldnt get enough of.

After the meal the owner confirmed to me that they were simply not prepared or didnt know how to prepare for this. Still, Lakruwana, with its museum like settings and terrific cheap food is quite possibly the best reason for hipsters to take the ferry over. Except perhaps right after a NYT mention, or during a festival in Bushwick

Categories: New York City, Staten Island | Tags: food, Lakruwana, New York City, NYC restaurants, restaurants, sri lankan food, staten island eats, Staten island restaurants | Leave a comment

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