Sandwiches at Bite in the East Village NYC, New York

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Continuing our exploration of the cheap eateries near Union Square, we ended up at Bite, a small restaurant that serves Mediterranean / Middle Eastern food.

Their menu offers and interesting variety of dishes: salads, soups or sandwiches, chili (???)...I was surprised however that they did not serve falafel!

We decided to order two sandwiches. The first one was the Middle Eastern mushrooms:

It was composed of sauteed mushrooms, hummus, goat cheese and Middle Eastern salad. The bread was ciabatta. The first bite was good, especially because they put a lot of goat cheese, but I could not get past the texture of the mushrooms that were probably canned. They would have used fresh mushrooms, this sandwich would have been fantastic!

The other sandwich was the Sabih:

It was composed of sauteed eggplant, hard broiled egg, hummus and Middle Easter Salad. The bread was also ciabatta. I really liked it! Sauteed eggplant is fantastic: it has this particular pleasant bitter taste and a spongy texture that will absorb the oil, oil that will then deliciously absorbed by the bread.

What we realized only after is that we could have picked pita instead of ciabatta bread; they did not ask and served bread by default. I think I would have preferred the pita because you have to press the sandwich when made with bread and then it becomes messy to eat because all the ingredients start to ooze from it!

Anyway, I could not not order their nutella and banana sandwich!!!

It was incredibly good! Look, you do not need to be a master Chef to make this sandwich good: banana and Nutella pair so well together, it would be a crime to separate them! Then, when served on a pressed ciabatta bread, it is heaven! Between the crispiness of the bread and the warmth of the Nutella that starts to melt, you cannot stop eating, carefully paying attention that no drop of Nutella will end up on your white shirt!

With this meal, we got also a homemade lemonade that was pretty good, a bit too sweet though.

The total for this meal was $23 that is a good price considering the amount of food we ate. It is definitely a place to know in the area! But, if I had to choose, for a great, cheap, Middle Eastern food, I would prefer Taim (check out my review of Taim).

Enjoy (I did)!

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Opening Ceremony at BCD Tofu House in Korea town, NYC - New York

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Before reading this post, please note that, in accordance with the FTC guidelines, I must disclose that I was contacted directly by the restaurant or a PR and that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!

April 25th was an exciting day for me: I was invited to the Opening Ceremony of BCD Tofu House, located in Korea Town. For sure, I did not expect what happened once there! Let me narrate the evening and you will see how it turned out!

I think I went only once to a restaurant opening ceremony, many years ago and I do not even remember which restaurant it was. So I was excited when I received the invitation from BCD Tofu House to attend their event! If you follow this blog, you know that I love Korean food and discovered this cuisine when traveling to Korea many years ago. I still discover new dishes though from time to time...

BCD Tofu House gets its name from Buk-Chang-Dong, a city in Korea where Mrs Hee Sook Lee, the Founder and CEO of the company received her first cooking training. 

So, the place is spacious with two floors and a earthy atmosphere thanks to the decor made of wood, dark for the most part. It got crowded pretty quickly with an audience representing the press, the blogger community, but also the Korean community, such as Seung Ki Min, President of The Korean-American Association of Greater New York or Young Hyun Kwun, President of The New York Society of Korean Businessman. The President and Founder of BCD Tofu House, Mrs Hee Sook Lee, was also present to welcome the guests and cut the ribbon.

Courtesy of AD Group Communique

The Master of Ceremony was Michelle Park, food and fashion reporter at NY1.

Yes, it was a full ceremony and not just let's cut the ribbon and have some food! The program was the following:

• Opening Remarks by Michelle Park.
• BCD Introduction.
• Congratulatory remarks from Seung Ki Min, President of The Korean-American Association of Greater New York or Young Hyun Kwun, President of The New York Society of Korean Businessman.
• Welcoming Remarks from Mrs Hee Sook Lee.
• Special Guests acknowledgment.
• Prayer.
• Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.
• Vision statement and closing remarks.

Well, what happened is that at some point they asked me to come to the ribbon cutting ceremony to represent foodies. I was a bit surprised and accepted as it was a great honor, but thought that they wanted me in the background. Once the prayer was completed, they called few people and asked the others to step outside the restaurant, in the street. They then asked me to wait a bit and made me line up after the people that were just called. Suddenly, they handed me over some white gloves and a pair of scissors! Holy Cow! I realized that what they asked me was not to be in the background, but rather to be part of the ribbon cutting!!! As I walked out, people spread out across the ribbon and I ended up in the middle, on the left of Mrs Hee Sook Lee!!! My main thought was: "Do not screw up! Do not cut the ribbon before everybody!!!" Once a person shouted "BCD", we cut the ribbon and shook hands, happy and honored at the same time! That was fantastic to be part of this! 

Courtesy of AD Group Communique

Note: I am the fourth person from the right on the photo!

Now, let's talk about food! Prior to the dinner, they served us some hors d'oeuvres:

Shrimp Potato Rolls:

It was delicious! First the shrimp was big and well cooked. Then, the potato crust reminded me of hash brown and paired perfectly with the shrimp.

Grilled Tofu Skewer:

The tofu, that was firm, was sandwiched between a piece of pineapple and a tomato. It was interesting because one was giving the sweetness and the other one the acidity that enhanced the flavor of the overall skewer. Pretty good!

The Third Hors d'Oeuvre was a Fried Pork Dumpling:

This one was my least favorite: too crispy and greasy for me.

I decided to order soju, a distilled alcohol very popular in Korea.

This one was made with sweet potatoes!

Then, they started the dinner with the traditional banchan or small dishes. There served my favorite: Kimchi!

It was very good and a bit spicy! I have to say that Kimchi is the dish I always expect when I go to a Korean restaurant! You can also find some at Whole Foods...

Spicy Raw Crab:

It was a fresh crab marinated in a spicy and garlicky red pepper sauce. Well, for sure the sauce was spicy. As for the crab, I cannot say because it was a bit difficult to eat the meat. Not the best dish for a press event!

Pickles:

And zucchini:

These two were good and balanced well with the spiciness of the other dishes.

There was also  a dish made with gelatin that I tried:

It had no taste and I confess that I only had a bite...

They also served us Jabchae that are glass noodles:

One of my bosses who is Korean used to say that French people are always fond of this dish and...he was right! It was the first time I tried them at room temperature and I admit that it was perfect. In Korean cuisine, they are usually made from sweet potato starch. 

Then came the LA Galbi or BBQ Pork Rib:

I think this was a phenomenal dish! The meat might not have been as tender as I expected, but it had so much flavor, similar to the flavor you would get with a bulgogi, thanks to its marinade. Eating it with the chop sticks was a bit of a challenge, but I had enough motivation to overcome it...

Then came the long awaited soon tofu or tofu soup:

The tofu in it was soft (soon in Korean) and therefore absorbed the delicious flavor of the broth made with beef and seafood. Mrs Hee Sook Lee told me that it was 100% organic. It came piping hot and we broke a fresh egg in it so it could cook in the soup!

And it was served with white rice:

This soup was delicious: very comforting, it was perfect because slightly spicy and very tasty. The mix of seafood and meat was really good and the only negative was that the shrimp had its shell, but I guess it is to render more flavor to the dish. If you do not like tofu like I use to, it might be the dish that will change your mind!

After we ate the soup, they brought us some rice in a broth that was supposed to clean our palate:

It was made with the white rice that was cooked in a stone bowl and then a broth was added to it. I had a bit of it and the taste was particular for sure.

Last was dessert:

Apparently, it is typical for celebration and Holidays. I confess that I do not know the name of this dessert that was made with red beans. I did not like the taste of it.

So we definitely had a good time at BCD Tofu House. For sure, it was the Inauguration of the restaurant so the service was perfect and we could expect some good food. I will go back another time as a regular customer to try other dishes, especially the bibimbap and the bulgogi! If you go, I suggest the LA Galbi, Jabchae and Soon Tofu soup that were excellent.

Enjoy (I did)!

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Dinner at Nobu in Tribeca, NYC, New York

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We were very excited to go to Nobu in Tribeca! We wanted to treat ourselves in the restaurant of Japanese Chef Nobu Matsuhisa, whose partners include Robert De Niro (yes, I am talking to you!). He created dishes inspired from his background but also from his experience in South America (Peru and Argentina). 

Having a reservation was a bit of a challenge for the week end and we got one at 6:15pm on a Saturday. From outside, the restaurant was very discreet. Inside, it was very elegant with its earthy tones and Japanese aesthetics. The place started to get busy pretty quickly. We even saw Matt Dillon who was having dinner and were wondering if we would see other actors as we went there during the Tribeca Film Festival. No luck. 

The menu was pretty extensive, showcasing traditional Japanese dishes like sushi and sashimi. For sure, having sushi and sashimi at Nobu might be good but we felt that we would miss the whole point of this culinary discovery.

We decided to try the following dishes:

For appetizer, we ordered the Spicy Miso Chips with Bigeye Tuna:

The scale on the photo is close to what we got! It was small and clearly more an Amuse Bouche rather than what I would call an appetizer. It would have been better with at least 4 pieces! It was good though, a little on the sweet side, it was not as spicy as it advertises. 

Then we got the Kumamoto Oysters with Maui Onion Salsa:

The presentation was very nice with the oysters presented on crushed ice. The scale on the photo was again close to reality: small. The problem is that I could barely taste the oyster: the onion salsa was good but too overpowering for my taste.

For entrees, Jodi ordered the Fish and Chips Nobu-style:

And I ordered the black cod with Miso:

Clearly, between the two, the black cod with Miso hit the mark! The fish was perfectly cooked, moist and flaky. It had some sweetness to it that was enhanced by the miso. It is definitely a dish to try if you go to Nobu. The Fish and Chips Nobu-style was, however, disappointing. I think we were expecting something better than just fish tempura with soy sauce. They could have done so different, maybe with some  sweet and sour sauce or wasabi. It was not even the best tempura we ever tried. I think the only thing I liked in that dish was the yuca fries...

I also ordered the Live Octopus Tiradito:

Contrary to what I thought, the octopus was not alive, just fresh... It was like a carpaccio with thin slices of octopus and lime, too much of it in fact! The octopus was tender and very good, but the lime overpowered the entire dish.

As we were still hungry (crazy, no?), we ordered two additional dishes:

Jodi went for the avocado tempura:

The avocado was too ripe and had barely no taste to it.

I ordered the creamy spicy crab:

This was the biggest disappointment of the dinner: I love crab and, although this dish has a lot of it, it was smothered in fish eggs and green onions, so I could not taste any of the crab meat! 

Not discouraged by the previous dishes, we decided to try dessert. Jodi ordered the Milk Chocolate Coconut Cake:

I liked it: light and tasty, it had a nice coconut-y taste that paired perfectly with the chocolate.

On my side, I ordered the Banana Soy Toban:

it was composed of caramelized bananas, roasted pecans and malaga ice cream, that tasted like rum/raisin ice cream. I enjoyed it: not too sweet, it was very comforting. 

I was so disappointed by our experience at Nobu! For most of the dishes, it missed the mark in term of taste, although I recognize that the presentation was fantastic and they showed some creativity. I definitely prefer Morimoto that offers a far better experience to its diners, at a better price (oh yeah: Nobu is definitely pricey)!

Enjoy (...)!

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Hot and Cold ramen at Ramen Takumi in NYC, New York

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As I thought my frenzy for ramen would have to be put on hold as the temperature rises, my cousin Jessica, who follows this blog and has given me some good addresses, mentioned the cold ramen. I was a bit intrigued by it as I always imagined that dish very hot. So when we went to Ramen Takumi, located nearby Union Square, in Greenwich Village, I decided to try. Well, remember: Ramen means Noodle Dish in Japanese. 

So we went there and as most of the ramen places, it was busy and the service was pretty fast. That day, exceptionally as one could say, I passed on the appetizer and went straight to the ramen! 

Jodi ordered the Shio Ramen:

The Shio Ramen broth, lightly salted, was served with two pieces of pork was were phenomenal (tender, tasty with a bit of deliciousness people call fat...), bamboo shoots, a salt flavored egg (half, perfectly cooked - soft yolk), seaweed, scallions and noodles (of course!). It was a very good dish!

I ordered the Hiyashi Ramen-Natsu:

This cold ramen dish was composed of the same pork Jodi had in her ramen (remember: phenomenal!), bamboo shoots, half salt flavor egg, cucumber, pickles, corn, pickled ginger, crab meat and noodles. In the bottom, there was a dark broth that I guess was made out of miso. This is where I realized that ramen does not mean noodle soup but noodle dish! The noodles were very good, cooked al dente, and it did not bother me at all that it was cold. It was refreshing in fact! I would definitely order this one again!

I have to say that I liked that place: the food was good and tasty. Prices wise, it is a bit more expensive than most places, with ramen dishes averaging $12.

Enjoy (I did)!

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Lulu's Bakery in Queens, NYC, New York

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David, one of my coworkers, brought some pastries from Lulu's, a bakery located in Queens. It was a box full of fresh mini size pastries. So, as I am fully dedicated to this blog, I had no other choice than trying few of them...

The first one was the Lulu's, a cream puff that is the specialty of the place.

The shell was very fresh and well cooked (when slightly overcooked, it can overpower the entire pastry), and the vanilla bean cream inside was very light.

Then, I got an eclair:

The top was made of some delicious dark chocolate and the inside was a vanilla cream. The shell was similar to the Lulu's. I really liked it, because of the combination of the chocolate glaze and the vanilla cream that complemented well.

The last was definitely for chocolate lovers. I call it the Dark chocolate cream puff!

It was smothered in a dark chocolate and had a very dark and dense chocolate cream inside.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the three pastries from Lulu's bakery that I tried: they tasted fresh, made with quality ingredients and, most importantly, were not too sweet, allowing people to eat several (plenty?) of them. A good address for sure!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Buns at Baohaus in NYC, New York

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Baohaus is a hole in the wall located in the East Village that serves Bao, these steamed bread-like buns that originated in Chinese cuisine. Interestingly, I discovered them in Japanese restaurants and was persuaded they were from Japan...But no, they are definitely not!

The place, opened by Eddie and Evan Huang is tiny!

You do not go there for a romantic dinner or to hang out; it is more grab, eat and go, except later in the evening.

The menu offers several types of buns as well as rice dishes for reasonable prices. But, if you have a good appetite, 4 to 5 buns will be necessary to satisfy it...Each portion is one bun, allowing to try few of them.

Here is what we got:

The Uncle Jesse (front) and Broccolini BAO:

The Uncle Jesse consists of organic fried Tofu, served with crushed peanut, cilantro, Haus Sauce, and Taiwanese red sugar.

The Broccolini Bao was a tempura Broccoli, served with Zha Jiang bean paste, shitake mushrooms, and daikon.

These were vegetarian options. My favorite was the Uncle Jesse that was a bit crunchy on the outside with a nice spicy sauce.

The Birdhaus:

Fried chicken with Haus Seasoning Salt, cilantro, crushed peanuts, and Taiwanese red sugar. This was my favorite one! The chicken was a bit crunchy, cooked all the way through and still moist. I could have eaten an entire bucket of it!

The Haus Bao and the Chairman Bao:

One was made with pork belly and the second one with beef cheek. It was tasty but on the dry side. I enjoyed it anyway!

The buns were very good, as bit sticky as most of them are...

I enjoyed it and my favorite was the Birdhaus (fried chicken). It is an interesting place, that proposes some cheap alternatives, but I am not sure I love it to the point where I would brave the line of customers. Maybe I should try again..What do you think?

Enjoy (I did)!

And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

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