Bambootori, Japanese Yakitori in NYC, New York

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I discovered Bambootori a month and a half ago, trying to find a place that serves quick and cheap food around Union Square. Bambootori serves yakitori, or Japanese skewered food. I admit that I did not recall having tried yakitori before, although the concept of skewer is not unknown to me: the first time I tried one was in Singapore, beef skewers served with a peanut sauce.

It is a tiny place for sure with few seats. The decor is very zen with its light colors and fun with its mirror full of drawings made by its customers.

At the entrance is where they prepare the food and cook it, using a machine brought back from Asia and a grill.

I met with the owners, Hendy, Christophe and Jonathan who are featured in the video at the end of the post. Hendy explained to me the cooking process with the machine: the skewers are made to order. So, when you order one, they will put it on the machine and it will go around twice, cooking at high temperature and releasing the fat in the tray, making it healthier. 

These two cycles take approximately 8 minutes. Then, then finish the skewer on the grill. Et voila!

What I like about Bambootori is that they have a menu that can accommodate both the carnivores and the vegetarians, offering meat skewers as well as veggie ones. I tried both of course and they were delicious! So, let start with the vegetable skewers! The first time we went, we tried the eggplant (middle), zucchini (left) that were delicious.

If you wonder what the one on the right is, it is the pork belly...This is my favorite of them all! I got it as a skewer, but also in a bun. In fact, you can order any of the meats or veggies in a fantastic soft steamed bun.

Look at this piece of pork belly tempting you!

The last way of eating the skewers is on rice, with pickled onions and seaweed.

There, I tried the asparagus and bacon (a good way to bridge the carnivore and vegetarian in me...), the chicken thigh with scallions and the chicken breast with scallions. It was good and juicy and I love the combination of the chicken and the scallions that in fact enhanced the taste of the chicken pretty well.

Then are the meatballs! There are three types: pork, chicken and beef. 

As explained by Christophe during the interview, the beef meatballs are made with some parts of the pork belly and beef tri-tips that are not served to the customers. If I had to recommend meatballs, it would be the pork ones.

I really like these meatballs: tasty and not dry. The main difficulty is to recognize what is what, but these guys can help you.  

The tri-tips in a bun was also very good, tender, juicy and perfectly cooked.

So, as I explained at the beginning of the post, I met with the owners and started to ask them about the  restaurant. They told me for instance that "one of the main reasons we opened BambooTori is because there was too many similar offerings for lunch crowds in NYC. The common grub like burgers/hotdogs/ salads / sandwiches. We want to bring something completely different and Unique". So I wanted to know from them what was so different and unique and proposed a video interview so they can explain the concept behind Bambootori themselves.
Below is the interview of Hendy, Christophe and Jonathan. I apologize in advance for the clicking sound that was due to the auto-focus of the camera.

I hope you learnt a lot about that place. And if you are looking for an affordable food joint near Union Square, try Bambootori: you will not regret it!

BAMBOOTORI

JAPANESE YAKITORI

106 University Place

btwn 12th and 13th

New York, NY 10003

Enjoy (I did)!

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Spice, Thai restaurant in NYC, New York

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I have to admit that I did not know what to expect from Spice, a restaurant chain, that serves Thai food. We went to their located close to Union Square.

For sure, this is not like your typical Thai restaurant: the atmosphere is more the one of a club than a restaurant, with very dimmed lights, eclectic decor and loud music.

After ordering a Thai Ice Tea that was very good, we ordered our food. I have to say that the waitress was annoying as she was trying to push us to order the special of the day, instead of the dishes we chose!

We started off with appetizers. The vegetable Spring rolls:

They were tasty but very, very greasy!

Then, I ordered the duck bun(s):

Jodi does not like duck so it was only for me. As the name of the dish was in singular form, I did not expect to see three of them! For $7, it is a good deal! The first bun was so so: the duck was a bit tough. However, the next two were divine with a more tender duck and a delicious hoasin sauce in the middle as well as the duck sauce all over the plate! A bit messy to eat, but fantastic!

Jodi ordered the Pad Thai:

These large noodles were delicious, although a bit salty. They were served with egg, scallions and bean curd.

On my side, I ordered the Chicken Massaman:

This is one of my favorite dishes and theirs was pretty good, although spicy (there was no chili next to the dish on the menu indicating it would be spicy). It was a nice quantity of it.

With it, came some white rice that was well presented.

Well, what can I say more? That was just white rice...Nothing special.

Although I liked the dinner, I did not really appreciate Spice: too loud and pushing too much on specials to have a nice evening with a love one or friends.

Spice
39 E 13th St
New York, NY 10003

Enjoy (I did)!

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Lobster Roll at Lobster Smack in NYC, New York

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Before coming in the US, I had no idea that lobster rolls exist! Lobster is considered a delicacy in France and nobody would have the idea of putting such a delicate piece of seafood in a piece of bread, smothered by sauce, mainly mayonnaise based! But this is changing and few restaurants are trying to showcase this fantastic sandwich across the Atlantic, such as Lobster Bar near Rivoli, Jeanne B in Montmartre or  Ralph's, the eatery inside the Ralph Lauren store at Saint Germain des Pres. 

So, after a bad brunch, walking in the streets, we saw Lobster Smack. As I always wanted to try it and did not eat so much before, I decided to go there to try their lobster roll. The place is a fast casual restaurant, where you order at the counter and pick up your order. You cannot miss the fact that they serve seafood, considering the decor. 

So, I went up to order and it was as if I was bothering the guy. Started well! A warm hello and a smile would have been welcome! I seemed to annoy him when I asked what the Old Bay sauce was. It is not as if the place was packed and they were stressed out! As Jodi put it, he was like a ray of sunshine. Then, not only it took forever to be prepared (again, there was barely any customers), but they also prepared the order of the person who came after me first, showing their lack of organization in processing orders. Suddenly, I heard "Old Bay regular"! I turned and saw my lobster roll at the counter. No "enjoy" to accompany it, but thank you anyway!

I think the surprise was when I opened the box: it was small! I probably made a face showing my surprise and disappointment. Not only it was a baby lobster roll, but on top of that, there was more bread than lobster. To add to this culinary catastrophe, the old bay sauce was salty. 

I will for sure remember my visit at Lobster Smack and next time I want a lobster roll, I will probably go somewhere else!!!

Enjoy (...)! 

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Sugar and Plumm in NYC, New York

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For Jodi's Birthday, we went to Sugar and Plumm's location on the Upper West Side, the reason being that the last time we passed by that place, Jodi immediately noticed their coconut cake!!! So, it was Her day! 

The place is fun because it mainly caters to families and it definitely is not where one should go for a romantic dinner! If you really want to go there, but would like to avoid family crowds, it is better that you go after 2pm if not 3pm. 

When you enter Sugar and Plum, you will notice three areas:

The candy area on the right that is amazing! 

Not because if the regular candies by the pound they sell, that are pretty standard. 

But because of the ones made of chocolate, some if them being spectacular, like this red shoe (Jodi loved it!):

or a bottle of champagne:

In the center, various items:

Macarons

Croissants, pains au chocolat or cookies

Pastries, cakes and cupcakes:

or ice cream and sorbet:

Last, on the left, the dining room with its colorful mosaic on the wall, accentuating how fun this place is. 

We started our lunch with the following. For Jodi, the ham and cheese crepe. 

The darker color of the crepe was a clear indication that it was made with buckwheat. There was a nice amount if cheese, however, for $12, I would have expected a salad on the side. Besides being pricey, it was very good and similar to a crepe I would have eaten in Paris. 

So, as there was no salad, Jodi ordered one!

Let's face it: it was just a salad. Nothing to dream about. 

I decided to order the chicken and waffles. I love this Southern concept and it is the perfect example of how sweet and savory can be successfully combined together!

I immediately saw that the chicken was not fried, but probably baked. I did not like it: fry with a weird taste and with the skin missing some crispness. For sure healthier, but who cares!

The waffle however was delicious! Dense but not too much, with a fantastic taste enhanced by vanilla. 

To go with the chicken and waffles, I went for a vanilla milkshake:

It was very good: tasty, it had the perfect consistency which is that I did not have to struggle to get it through the straw, even if that straw was a bigger one.

Then was time for the long awaited dessert!!! The coconut cake:

It was quite appetizing and we liked it although it does not measure up with the one at Balthazar or the coconut cream pie at Billy's. 

I think that if you like waffles or have kids, Sugar and Plum is the place for you. For instance, we witnessed the patience of the staff and their kindness toward children (also the adults!). Otherwise, I thought that some items were overpriced. 

Enjoy (...)!

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Fantastic Dinner at Gramercy Tavern in NYC, New York

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Danny Meyer is to food what Donald Trump is to real estate: a tycoon. I know that this comparison is far fetched, but it expresses my admiration for a Chef who knew how to redefine dining in New York, whether it is for fine or casual dining. Who does not know Shake Shack today? A success story for sure in the expanding world of the burger joints. There is also Blue Smoke that I recently tried, or Union Square Cafe. But, one of my latest discoveries is Gramercy Tavern. I knew the name, but never tasted the food! Until now!!! In fact, preparing this blog, I learned that one of the co-founders, back in 1994, was Tom Colicchio, who left the adventure few years later, the restaurant having ups and downs.

It was tough to get a reservation there and we booked it a month before, at 6:30pm on a weekday. Early dinner, but would it be worth it? And as if the elements tried to convince me to abandon what would be a culinary adventure, it was pouring and the trains were delayed. But it was not enough to stop me from going there!

The place was packed when I arrived, full of people without a reservation. We got seated pretty fast, in a dining room where tables were not too close to the others, but enough to do some eavesdropping. The clientele was quite heterogeneous: business people, some of them recognizable by their name tag (is the company that treated her employees at Gramercy Tavern hiring???), people in jeans and polo shirts or other fully dressed up (not to mention the hybrids: women in evening dresses and men in jeans)! Well, although the name has tavern in it, this is an elegant place! 

We decided to go for the tasting menu. They had two menus created around seasonable ingredients. For Jodi, they were kind enough to serve a vegetarian menu, mainly inspired by the vegetable menu, but without any meat or seafood. 

I was surprised in fact not to see straight away a vegetarian menu considering that it would cater to lots of people in New York. 

They started with bringing us an amuse bouche:

It was a puff pastry filled with herbed ricotta, shallots and tarragon. It was very delicate and pre figured a fantastic dinner! 

When the first dish came, they announced the fact that this dinner would be unforgettable: the presentation of each and every dish was spectacular, as if Chef Michael Anthony was using the plate as a canvas. The first dish for me was the marinated scallops, served with asparagus, almonds and American caviar.

I admit that I had no idea that there was such thing as American caviar! And I loved it as not bitter as a sevruga would be! Overall, the dish was light, fresh, with a nice balance of flavors. 

Jodi got a salad with squash, peas, micro greens and nuts:

The colors looked wonderful and it was a nice start for the vegetarian menu, the nuts giving a little crunch to it. 

Then, came the warm lobster salad:

It was served with carrots, watercress and fingerling potatoes. The lobster, that was perfectly cooked, was delish!

Jodi got the warm vegetarian salad with farro. 

It was her favorite dish of the evening, and she particularly liked the farro and its crunchy texture. For having tried that dish, I admit that it was pretty good, but not my favorite vegetarian dish, that came next! It was grilled carrots with honey, pistachio, olives and a Camembert sauce. 

I did not care about the Camembert sauce that I thought was not needed on the plate. However, the carrots were fantastic: mixed with the honey and pistachio, there was this delicious sweetness and crunchiness that made this dish a killer one!

On my side, I got halibut with a beet dashi, radish and Swiss chard. 

The contrast between the white color of the fish and the bright red of the beet dashi was eye catching. The fish was flaky, moist and melting in my mouth. However, I did not like the sauce that was not as tasty as I would have preferred. 

Then, Jodi got roasted asparagus and ricotta. 

Interesting combination, wonderful and appetizing presentation with the ricotta buried under the veggies.

I got at that point some ricotta tortellini, morel mushrooms and fava beans. 

That was a great dish: one of my favorites and Jodi probably regretted that it was not on the vegetarian menu! The tortellini were soft and perfectly complemented by the mushrooms. 

Then came the last entrees: Jodi got roasted beets. 

They were served with some homemade yogurt, pickled plum, basmati rice and chips. Believe it or not, but Jodi who does not like beets, ate that dish! That was interesting because I do like beets and was not that fond of that dish...

My last dish was roasted duck breast. 

It was served with lentils, celery root, mushroom and hazelnut. The duck was perfectly cooked medium rare (they asked me if that temperature was ok) and came with a bit of fat that was delicious. The hazelnut added some crunch and nuttiness to a dish that was perfectly balanced, delicate and flavorful. It was my favorite dish for sure! 

Then came dessert. Oh wait! Not dessert: pre-dessert!!! Yes, a restaurant serving a pre-dessert is for sure my type of place! It was a strawberry yogurt panacotta with mascarpone and meringue. 

Great way to start dessert: refreshing and not too sweet. We inhaled it literally!

Then came the chocolate pecan coconut cake served with butter pecan ice cream!

I loved it, especially the ice cream that was incredibly good: creamy, buttery and full of pecan! Bring me a gallon please!!! The coconut cake was good too, very chocolaty with layers of coconut, enough to balance the bitterness of the chocolate. 

At the time we were thinking it was time to walk several miles to help diggest, they brought us some chocolates (caramel on the left, mint on the right):

As well as cookies:

I do not know how Jodi resisted to eat them: I could not...

Then, with the bill, they brought us some delicious coffee cakes that we ate for breakfast. 

I can tell you that we were full after this feast at Gramercy Tavern! The food was delicious and the presentation spectacular. I would like also to mention the service we got from Jahir: he made us feel welcome and looked after, checking with us between each dishes if it was to our liking or if we needed anything. Not to mention his sense of humor! It is what makes the difference between service and hospitality. 

For fine dining, Gramercy Tavern is definitely on the top of my list! It was a dinner we are not ready to forget! And the best proof that being vegetarian does not mean that you have to eat mushy and bland food!

Enjoy (we surely did)!

Gramercy Tavern
42 E 20th St
New York, NY 10003

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