Posts Tagged With: restaurants

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

5 Reasons to Visit Flatiron District this Month

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Ziggy

The Flatiron district is one of my favorite areas in NYC. It is the first area I think about when I need to kill some time. You got great architecture, artsy park, some of the best dining in NYC like Maialino and ABC Kitchen, and a stone throw away from Union Square and the village, Curry Hill, Koreatown and other great hoods. If all that is not enough here are 5 reasons to head to Flatiron today

1. New art at Madison Square Park. Orly Genger’s Red, Yellow, and Blue. 3 structures of layers of hand painted ropes in 3 areas of the park. I’ve seen a lot of art over the years at the park and this is one of the most stunning

http://www.madisonsquarepark.org/art

2. Madison Square Eats. They are back. New York’s finest in the food business dishing out some super tasty snacks. We are talking about Roberta’s Pizza (try the Bee Sting pizza), momofuku milk bar, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Arancini Bros., Bar Suzette, Hong Kong Street Cart and much much more (note that was 2 muches).

Avoid midweek during lunch however unless you don’t mind painful lines. More painful than standing in a full bus on a Friday night for 90 minutes as I did the other day. It was getting somewhat frustrating at some point but then luckily we all got that loud announcement again. “City bus operators are protected by state law. assaulting a bus operator is a felony!” Well thank goodness. And what perfect timing as I was just getting riled up. I mean is it really necessary to wake an entire bus of tired New Yorkers after work with this announcement. I can just imagine the meetings they had about what announcements they should do with their brand spanking new buses with fancy announcement systems. ” Hey lets remind them that assaulting a driver is a felony in case, you know, they are plotting something”, “Oh and lets also remind them what the fare is in case they forgot” We just paid it!!

3. Eataly. Still there and not going anywhere by the look of the crowds. I’ve been there 3 more times in the last 4 weeks alone and had more delicious Italian goodness like this Asparagus and egg dish in Le Verdure.

4. ABC Cocina. Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Dan Kluger’s much hyped Spanish tapa extension to the ultra popular farm to table ABC Kitchen.

5. Do you really need a 5th reason? Seriously why are you still reading? I gave you 4 perfectly fine reasons above including great food, flowers and painted ropes next to flowers. What else do you want? You know what, I had a great 5th reason but I’m choosing not to share it at this time. Instead I leave you with more pictures of painted rope with flowers, food, and for my Australian readers a squirrel…

Categories: Gramercy, Flatiron, New York City | Tags: eataly, flatiron, flatiron restaurants, food, Madison Square Eats, madison square park, restaurants, Travel | Leave a comment

Turks and Caicos – Top 7 Small Bites

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Ziggy

(As published in the current WhereWhenHow Magazine)

Seven days of culinary bliss. That defines another trip to Providenciales in a nutshell for the Ziggy clan. I can’t think of another Caribbean island where we’ve had it thisgood in such consistent fashion. Recent trips to foodie heavyweights in Europe have produced their share of clunkers. So who knew that an island nation of 33,253 residents, with restaurants mostly geared toward tourists, would produce such culinary delights?

I just love eating in Provo. In fact I love everything about the island – the beach, the people, even the driving. According to Mrs Ziggy I turn into someone else, including a complete gentleman while on the island (Although the truth is I keep forgetting the location of the steering wheel on the rental and keep opening the wrong door). Anyway, with that said, I will share here some of our favorite dishes from our last trip.

A solid meal can turn uneven in a hurry without the support of a solid starter to set the tone. So without further ado here are the nominees for best supporting cast (I’m talking about small dishes. Play with me here as I’m recovering from the latest Oscar fever)…

Conch Kebabs at Garam Masala. Imagine the Falafel and the Shish Kebab having a baby girl named Apple (a ~~Hollywood~~ Bollywood baby). The result is a spicy, juicy palate pleaser that opens your senses for things to come. I love Indian food and I can tell you that this is not your ordinary Indian. Part owner Vinni has a passion for his native cuisine and it shows.

Strong contender: Chicken Tikka “Pizza” (on naan bread)

Lobster Salad at Las Brisas – Lobster, tortilla, Chalk Sound, gazebo, light breeze, stronger breeze, napkins flying, oh no quick, close the shutters before the kids get a cold – Ingredients you wont find anywhere else, not even in Basque Country. The folks at Las Brisas (which means breezes) have been dishing out great tapas and lobster salads for years. They partially cook the lobster and let the lime acid do the rest. A semi-ceviche if you will. But you need to get there during lobster season, otherwise, well.. enjoy chicken season.

Strong contender: Chickpeas and Chorizo

Grilled Calamari at Caicos Café – Did you ever take a bulldog for a walk to his favorite spot in the park, and experience its huge anticipation as it strains on the leash to get there? That is sort of like when I’m being taken to Caicos Café. And in recent years in Caicos Café, the marvelous grilled Calamari is usually the first thing to arrive at our table. The squid itself has great texture, not too chewy as some can get. Add fresh mussels, savory Cannellini beans and finger licking, more bread please sauce and you got yourself one heck of a dish. I like to order grilled calamari everywhere we go and the result is very often a case of severe daydreaming.

Strong contender: Gnocchi with Mushroom sauce

Fish Tacos at Hemingway’s – A staple on every trip to Provo for us, especially for Mrs Ziggy (Hi, Mrs Ziggy, look at me I have my own column. See, I told you all that time spent on Trip Advisor will lead to something). While in other popular establishments on other islands you need a fishing license to fish the grouper out of the tacos, in Hemingway’s the fish is the main event. A hint of sour cream and sweet Mango chutney provide a glorious compliment and lets you temporary forget any preferences for the spicier stuff.

Strong Contender: Conch Fritters

Coffee Rubbed Tuna at Bay Bistro – Who knew coffee and tuna can play so nicely together. Well, the same person that figured out the pecan, conch and orange Ménage à trois among other great combinations in the classics filled Bay Bistro menu, that’s who. Island riots and airport shutting firefighter strikes normally erupt after Bay Bistro removes items from the menu. Long live the Coffee Rubbed Tuna!

Strong Contender: Conch Wontons

Escargot at Le Bouchon. When in Provo do what the French do, and eat what the French eat like the succulent Escargot at Le Bouchon. It’s a fairly simple dish that so many can’t get quite right. At a recent popular Brooklyn joint I was presented with an Escargot dish that was pretty to look at but with zero substance, like Paris Hilton. However at Le Bouchon what you get is the perfect balance of garlic, butter and herbs. And once you are done with those babies you can shift that ‘I want more’ desire to the sauce and the terrific bread.

Strong Contenders: Mussels

Scallops at Beach House – Perfectly seared scallops with cauliflower espuma and white truffle vinaigrette. The espuma is a foam-like runny “I cant believe its not mashed potato puree”, and you really get the wonderful truffle essence here. Big flavours in this one. Note that spelling flavour with a U, the British way, normally alludes to bigger tastes than the less sophisticated American plain Flavor.

Strong Contender: Strozzapreti (Another Note, I havent actually tried those particular Priest Stranglers (“Strozzapreti”) but strictly judging in this case by the facial expressions of a trusted foodie that did. Unless it was just gas)

So there you have it. 7 memorable small bites from our last trip. Enjoy your trip and stay hungry my friends

Categories: Turks and Caicos | Tags: Best food in Providenciales, best food in Turks and caicos, food, restaurants, Travel, Turks and Caicos, Turks and Caicos Restaurants | Leave a 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

Ziggy International

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Ziggy

photo (46)

Start posting nonsense on Trip Advisor – Check

Make a YouTube Video – Check

Start a Blog – Check

Learn the difference between i.e and e.g. – Check

Get a feature column in a world renowned magazine – Check

If the link does not work, just click on the magazine on the left here

Categories: Turks and Caicos | Tags: food, Providenciales, restaurants, Travel, Turks and Caicos, Where When How | 3 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

Kashkar Cafe – Your Uyghur Fix

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Ziggy

***Update 11/28/13 **** Went back for some more deliciousness. Had the same dishes and more (pictures at the bottom)

Before you Google Uyghur and read this post, I want you to do something for me. You must! Go to your kitchen cabinet and take out the cumin. Now open the cumin and let it sit by the monitor. That’s all. Continue reading.

Blink and you will miss this little café on busy Brighton Beach avenue in “Little Odessa”, Brooklyn . Nestled among Russian pharmacies, groceries, nightclubs and more Russian Pharmacies is this Uzbekh gem. Yes, Russians do love their pharmacies. They come to hang out, pick up their newspapers, their prescriptions, and the free roll of Bounty they were promised for switching from the pharmacy 2 doors down.

Once you are inside it looks like any other small Russian café with various Uzbekh decorations. This is Uyghur cuisine. The Uyghur is an ethnic group primarily living in Central Asia and and China. And boy can they cook!

In this fun, picture filled menu I went for some Lagman items and Kebabs. Lagman is like Lamian, Chinese noodles. They are long, thick and spectacular.

Started with the fantastic Lagman soup. Like a nice cross between Russian “Kharcho” and Ramen. Lamb, veggies, and plenty of those thick, airy Lagman noodles.

The Geiro Lagman (top picture) was even better and one of the best dishes I’ve had in the past 12 months. I knew it will be good as soon as it arrived. Lets see if you can see the same thing… click on the picture on top and stare at it for a few seconds. Do you smell the cumin?? It tasted as great it looks, with plenty of cumin and garlic, and got the same noodles and tender lamb as the soup, Great dish!

The lamb and chicken kebabs were some of the juiciest and tastiest I ever had. No sauce needed here. They sell them by the skewer here – about $3 per. And the crispy garlicky potatoes were such a beautiful compliment.

This cozy, family owned Uzbekh/Uyghur delivers big time flavors. No visa required. Check it out next time you visit Brighton Beach.

Categories: Brooklyn, New York City | Tags: Brighton Beach dining, Brighton Beach Restaurants, Brooklyn eats, Brooklyn Restaurants, food, Kashkar Cafe, Kashkar Cafe Brooklyn, restaurants, Uyghur | Leave a 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

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